JAN  i0.ai2 


V        - 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


GIFT    OF 


Class 


The  Mechanism 
of  Nature 


BY 

HENRY    C.   EHLERS 


1911 

HENRY    C.    EHLERS 

CLEARBROOK,  WASH. 


COPYRIGHT.  1911.  BY  HENKY  C.  EHLERS 


PREFACE 

During  the  years  that  this  little  book  was  in  the 
making  there  were  always  hopes  of  the  future,  of 
some  turn  in  the  wheel  that  would  permit  of 
leisure  for  experimenting  and  adequate  study. 
But  there  remains  nothing  now  except  to  throw 
away  the  whole  study  or  submit  it  with  all  its  im- 
perfections. All  modern  Science  seems  to  rest  on 
vibration,  and  all  philosophy  on  Evolution.  It 
seems  vain  and  foolish  to  argue  that  these  great 
doctrines  may  possibly  be  wrong  and  false.  To 
oppose  to  these  accepted  conclusions  an  unproved 
theory  of  unintermittent  displacement,  and  of  in- 
destructible form,  this  may  seem  nothing  but  a 
waste  of  time.  Yet,  when  it  is  considered  how 
deeply  these  questions  enter  into  everything  that 
constitutes  the  life  of  humanity,  it  may  be  well 
to  look  at  these  questions  from  every  possible 
angle. 

Certainly  the  theories  of  Gravity,  of  Cohesion, 
and  Magnetism,  advanced  herein,  cannot  stand  if 
the  whole  conception  of  Matter  and  Force  is  wrong, 
yet  there  are  theories  where  there  was  no  theory 
before.  The  space-filling  capacity  of  spheres,  the 
cfowding  for  space*  necessary  in  a  change  from 
closest  contact  of  two  to  one,  into  ordinary  layers, 

iii 

227431 


PREFACE 

and  this  crowding  for  space  as  the  origin  and  na- 
ture of  all  force  that  human  reason  can  perceive,  is 
not  this  a  new  philosophy  of  Matter  and  Force? 

Form,  which  is  not  outward  shape  alone,  but 
identity  of  physical  construction,  from  the  arrange- 
ment of  ultimate  particles  to  the  utmost  confines 
of  complexity.  This  is  set  forth  as  the  real  identity 
underlying  identical  Life  and  Force.  And  may 
not  this  idea  of  Form  hold  something  worthy  of 
consideration  ? 

That  this  book  fails  in  proving  the  momentum 
of  bodies  in  motion,  to  consist  in  a  connection  with 
a  universal  ether  movement,  rather  than  in  an  ad- 
dition of  occult  force  to  inert  bodies,  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at.  Yet  there  may  be  something  indi- 
cated that  will  cause  some  one  to  make  a  real 
advance  in  the  study  of  momentum.  And  it  seems 
as  if  one  little  invention  in  connection  with  momen- 
tum, like  its  conversion  directly  into  electricity,  for 
instance,  were  worth  a  wagon-load  of  books.  Stick- 
ing potato  balls  together  with  pegs  could  scarcely 
succeed  in  determining  the  form  of  different  Atoms, 
yet  evidently  this  can  be  done,  if  Atoms  are  com- 
posed of  lesser  ultimate  spheres.  Can  the  great 
science  of  Darwinian  biology  possibly  be  resting  on 
an  insecure  foundation?  It  can  scarcely  hurt  to 
examine  the  foundation  again  and  again  before  a 
great  sky-scraper  is  completed. 

No  one  understands  gyroscopic  persistency.  No 
one  knows  how  to  make  an  etheroplane  that  may 
take  hold  of  plane  layers  of  ether  particles,  rather 

iv 


PREFACE 

than  of  unstable  air-currents.  Blindly  groping  for 
a  lead,  ever  bumping  into  insurmountable  walls — 
yet  there  is  a  way  out,  and,  foot  by  foot,  the  way 
will  be  found.  The  explorer  cannot  survey  and 
level  and  keep  exact  field  notes.  It  is  folly  to 
expect  a  Cook  or  a  Peary  to  take  hair-splitting  ob- 
servation, in  Arctic  dress,  and  in  a  life  and  death 
struggle  for  mere  animal  existence.  The  "Rah 
Rah  Boys"  must  come  after  the  explorer,  to  locate 
and  level  and  primp  up,  and  that  is  their  business. 
But  before  the  great  explorer,  there  is  the  humble 
Esquimau,  the  woodsman,  the  voyageur,  blunder- 
ing ahead,  making  a  portage  or  camp  or  perhaps 
only  jusf  a  blaze.  And  yet — the  woodsman's  blaze 
may  help  the  great  explorer  when  he  is  lost,  and 
lead  him  on  to  an  unsuspected  pass. 

What  matters  it  who  shall  find? 

What  has  truth  to  do  with  personality?  Shall 
not  a  grain  of  truth  be  precious  among  a  thousand 
bushels  of  trash,  and  who  shall  say:  "It  is  not 
worth  the  winnowing"? 

With  all  its  faults  and  incoherence,  this  little 
book  is  submitted  to  you.  Will  you  try  to  pick  out 
something  to  elaborate  and  put  in  shape  for 
proper  use?  H.  C.  E. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Axioms 

Definitions ? 

Space-filling  Matter 

Force  Transmissions 

Necessary  Inequality 

Nature  of  Force 32 

Identity 37 

Mass 45 

Life 50 

Reproduction  and  Sex 67 

Identical  Life  Result  of  Form       ....  71 

Mechanical   Displacement 78 

Requirements  of  Force 85 

Connection  of  Moving  Bodies  with  Ether     .  94 

Displacement  in   Plane  Layers     ....  108 

The  Law  of  Life 110 

Inertia  and  Momentum 121 

Gravity 133 

Cohesion 144 

Heat .      .  150 

Magnetism 166 

Electricity 179 

Light  Transmission 198 

Transparency 205 

Origin  of  Light 212 

Monoism                      .  , 216 

vii 


BOOK  I 


MECHANISM  OF  NATURE 


The  fruit  of  the  world-old  Labor, 
The  prize  of  the  fierce  long  strife, 

All  hail  to  the  new-born  era! 

To  the  throbbing,  the  pulsing  Life. 

Behold,  all  that  humans  imagined, 

This  we  will  begin  to  do; 
No  mortal  hand  shall  restrain  us, 

Our  course  shall  be  straight  and  true. 

The  jealous  Gods  are  impotent, 
We  fear  not  the  fabled  crew; 

For  we  know  the  laws  of  the  plummet 
And  straight  are  the  lines  we  hew. 

From  the  ruin  of  vanished  empires, 
From  the  ashes  of  countless  kings, 

The  greatest,  the  last,  the  McSaxon, 
The  nation  of  nations  springs. 

One  language,  one  flag  and  one  Country, 
The  Land  of  the  Good  and  Free, 

Wherever  my  feet  may  wander, 
And  ever  my  heart  may  be. 
3 


MECHANISE    OP   NATURE 

And  woe  unto  them  that  falter, 
To  the  cumberer  in  the  way! 

Not  his  blood  nor  his  prayers  may  alter, 
Nor  the  tide  of  our  progress  stay. 


On  the  threshold  of  mighty  ages, 

In  this,  the  triumphal  hour, 
Why  is  it  the  worn  old  pages 

Tell  the  story  of  Babel's  tower? 

Ah,  what  means  the  old,  old  story, 
The  voices  of  mortar  and  stone? 

I  Am  That  I  Am,  The  Eternal, 
And  I  am,  the  fleeting  soul. 

Of  the  changing  dust  created, 

Of  the  unknown  whence  and  why; 

To-morrow  to  dust  returning, 
Yet  the  glorious  conscious  I. 

Free  and  high  as  the  stars  of  heaven, 
And  each  in  his  own  true  sphere, 

Who  shall  say  to  the  least  of  creation, 
Thou  art  but  a  subject  here. 

Each  blade  and  each  star  and  each  atom, 
There  is  not  another  the  same ; 

And  each  is  alone  in  his  glory, 
And  each  is  alone  in  his  shame. 
4 


DISPLACEMENT 

Only  change  is  the  life  of  the  living, 
And  death  is  the  sweet  new  life; 

The  marriage  of  world  and  of  atoms, 
And  Peace  is  eternal  strife. 

Forever  the  Gods  will  scatter, 

What  fondly  our  hands  have  reared ; 

And  ever  the  lost  shall  gather, 

Where  the  vanquished  disappeared. 

And  this  is  the  Mene  Tekel, 
Ever  written  upon  the  wall; 

This  is  the  fate  of  the  mighty  McSaxon, 
A  fate  that  must  come  to  all. 


The  mist  of  the  rushing  river 

Comes  again  to  the  mountain  crest, 

And  the  weary  heart  must  ever 
Return  to  the  father-breast. 

Not  grandly  in  blood  and  iron, 
Not  in  conquest  fierce  and  wild, 

Oh,  Lord,  when  the  Kingdom  cometh, 
It  comes  to  the  little  Child. 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 


AXIOMS. 

I.     Force  is  known  only  by  the  changes  wrought 
in  matter. 

II.     Matter   is    known   to   us  •  only    through   the 
changes  wrought  by  the   action  of  force. 

III.  One  body  cannot  occupy  the  space  occupied 
by  another  body. 

IV.  In  the  same  space,  at  the  same  time,  and 
with  the  same  material,  weight  is  a  true 
measure  of  mass. 


DISPLACEMENT 


DEFINITIONS  OF   THE  SENSE  IN  WHICH 
EXPRESSIONS  ARE  USED. 

1.  Matter  is  that  which  fills  space  in  the  Uni- 

verse. 

2.  Force  is  that  which  causes  change  in  matter. 

3.  A  wave  is  a  passage  of  material  from  one 

place  to  another  place,  and  a  return  of  all 
the  matter  composing  that  wave  to  the 
original  place. 

4.  Void  is  the  absence  of  organization. 

5.  Form  is  the  peculiar  relative  position  of  the 

last  possible  subdivisions  of  the  material 
composing  a  body. 

6.  A  primary  sphere  is  the  last  possible  subdi- 

vision of  all  material — a  perfect  sphere  of 
indestructible  identity — yet  equal  in  size 
and  in  every  other  respect  to  every  other 
primary  sphere  in  the  Universe. 

7.  An  atom  is  composed  of  four  or  more  pri- 

mary spheres,  which  in  their  peculiar 
forms  constitute  a  secondary  identity,  the 
last  possible  subdivision  of  elementary  sub- 
stances. 

8.  Molecules  are  the  compound  of  two  or  more 

atoms,  which,  in  their  peculiar  form,  consti- 
tute the  last  possible  division  of  a  chemical 
compound.  « 

7 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

9.  Substance  is  matter  made  ponderable,  tangi- 
ble and  perceptible,  by  organization  of  the 
particles  composing  it. 

10.  A  primary  identity  is  an  identity  which  has 

no  particles,  which  has  either  always 
existed,  or  has  been  created  as  one  whole 
and  is  incapable  of  undergoing  a  natural 
change. 

11.  A  constructed  identity  is  a  compound  of  par- 

ticles held  together  in  some  organization 
whereby  it  is  separated  in  our  perception 
from  other  identities. 

12.  An  identical  manifestation  of  force  is  an  ex- 

hibition of  force  through  similar  material 
and  producing  changes  in  matter  which  ap- 
pear different  from  other  changes  in 
matter. 

13.  Occult.     That  which  has  existence  without 

material. 

PROPOSITION   I. 

Matter  is  continuous  throughout  all  the  Universe. 

Because  we  know  that  the  force  light  comes  to 
us  from  the  sun,  therefore,  all  that  space  between 
us  and  the  sun  is  occupied  by  a  continuous  mass 
of  matter.  Let  there  be  any  intermission  between 
us  and  the  sun,  where  matter  does  not  join  on  mat- 
ter, then  we  would  know  of  force  otherwise  than 
through  matter,  which  is  impossible.  (Axiom  I.) 

8 


DISPLACEMENT 

And  since  we  receive  light  from  every  direc- 
tion, therefore  matter  is  continuous  throughout  all 
the  Universe. 


PROPOSITION   II. 

The  void  matter  of  the  Universe  consists  of  small 
primary  spheres  of  indestructible  identity. 

Because  a  solid  body  may  freely  pass  through 
the  void  (Def.  4)  matter  of  the  Universe,  and  be- 
cause one  body  may  not  occupy  the  space  occu- 
pied by  another  body. 

Therefore,  void  matter  consists  of  particles 
which  can  move  out  of  the  way. 

Again,  because  the  particles  of  void  matter  of- 
fer no  resistance  to  the  passage  of  solid  bodies, 
these  particles  must  move  without  friction.  But 
friction  is  the  result  of,  inequalities  in  moving  sur- 
faces (every-day  experience),  and  the  perfect 
sphere  is  the  only  shape  wherein  matter  has  no 
inequality  of  surface  (occular  demonstration). 
Therefore,  the  particles  of  void  matter  are  per- 
fectly round. 

Considering  the  whole  number  of  particles  mov- 
ing without  friction,  they  must  be  equal  in  size, 
unyielding  primary  spheres. 

Therefore,  the  void  matter  of  the  Universe  con- 
sists of  primary  spheres. 


9' 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 


PROPOSITION    III. 

No  space  can  be  entirely  filled  by  primary 
spheres;  their  closest  possible  contact  will  leave 
interstices  between  them. 


Let  A  be  a  circular  plane,  and  let  the  smaller 
circles  within  it  represent  the  diameter  of  pri- 
mary spheres. 

Then,  it  is  evident  that  the  spheres  may  not  be 
placed  closer  together,  yet  there  remains  in  the 
larger  circle  spaces  which  are  not  filled  by  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  spheres.  And  since  it  is  evident 
that  any  rectilineal  figure  would  show  the  same 
result,  and  that  this  will  hold  true  in  any  direc- 
tion, therefore,  no  space  can  be  entirely  filled  by 
primary  spheres;  their  closest  possible  contact 
leaves  interstices  between  them. 


10 


DISPLACEMENT 
PROPOSITION   IV. 

OCCULAB  DEMONSTRATION. 

The  primary  spheres,  which  constitute  the  void 
matter  of  the  Universe,  cannot  all  be,  each  to  two 
others,  in  as  close  contact  as  three  spheres  can  be 
to  one  another. 

Let  the  bottom  of  a  box  be  filled  with  a  layer 
of  spheres,  each  to  two  others  in  the  closest  possi- 
ble contact.  Then  it  is  impossible  to  put  on  the 
layer  of  spheres  another  layer,  which  shall  be  in 
the  closest  possible  contact,  each  sphere  to  two 
adjoining  ones  of  both  layers.  And  since  the  void 
matter  of  the  Universe  consists  of  many  layers  of 
spheres,  therefore,  the  primary  spheres  constitut- 
ing the  void  matter  of  the  Universe  cannot  all  be 
in  as  close  contact  as  three  spheres  can  be  to  one 
another. 

PROPOSITION   V. 

All  bodies  directly  perceptible  to  our  senses  are 
composed  of  particles. 

Let  a  ball  of  iron  be  heated  to  1,000  degrees 
Fahrenheit.  Let  it  be  measured.  Let  it  be 
weighed.  Let  it  cool  to  100  degrees.  Then,  be- 
cause it  weighs  no  less  when  cooled,  there  has  been 
no  loss  of  iron.  (Axiom  IV.) 

11 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

But  since  there  has  been  a  reduction  in  size, 
something  else  may  now  fill  a  part  of  the  space 
occupied  by  the  ball  when  it  was  heated  to  1,000 
degrees. 

But  this  is  impossible  if  all  the  space  was  occu- 
pied by  iron.  (Axiom  III.) 

Consequently,  there  were  within  the  space  occu- 
pied by  the  iron  ball  spaces  which  were  not  filled 
by  the  iron.  And  since  this  may  be  proven  with 
the  smallest  possible  amount  of  iron,  and  with  any 
known  substance  under  greatly  varying  degrees  of 
heat,  therefore,  all  bodies  directly  perceptible  to 
our  senses  are  composed  of  particles. 

PROPOSITION   VI. 

The  atoms  composing  a  solid  body  are  not  round, 
but  they  are  interlocked  and  in  actual  contact  one 
with  another. 

Let  a  bar  of  iron  be  heated.  Then  for  every 
degree  of  heat  the  bar  will  expand  a  certain 
amount,  and  the  expansion  will  be  uniform 
through  many  degrees.  The  space  between  the 
atoms  increases  in  size  just  so  much  for  every 
pound  of  coal  burnt  in  heating  the  iron.  Yet  if  the 
particles  were  in  the  first  place  apart,  the  heat 
would  have  to  act  on  them  through  the  medium  of 
ether. 

But  any  force  acting  through  the  medium  of 
ether  cannot  rationally  be  supposed  to  act  equally 

12 


DISPLACEMENT 

at  all  distances,  but,  rather,  it  acts  like  gravity, 
after  the  inverse  square. 

Again,  let  the  circle  B  C  F  represent  a  disk  of 
iron.    Let  A  be  the  centre  around  which  it  is  re- 


volved toward  B  C.  Let  the  dot  B  represent  an 
atom  of  the  disk.  Then  the  force  which  holds  the 
atoms  together  will  cause  the  atom  B  to  remain  at 
the  same  distance  from  the  centre,  while  it  crosses 
the  line  A  C  D  E.  But  the  momentum  acquired 
by  the  atom  B  will  strive  to  make  it  go  at  right 
angles  to  the  line  A  B;  namely,  in  the  direction 
B  E. 

Then,  however  strong  the  force  of  cohesion,  if 
the  atom  can  move  at  all,  relative  to  the  centre, 
the  movement  will  be  a  compound  between  the 
circular  path  B  C  and  the  tangent  B  E.  Let 
that  resultant  path  be  any  line  B  D ;  then,  because 
the  line  B  D  is  between  the  circular  line  B  C 
and  a  line  outside  of  the  circle,  the  line  B  D  must 
be  farther  removed  from  the  centre  A  than  is  the 
atom  at  B.  And  because  every  atom  in  the  disk  is 
subject  to  the  same  law  of  force  and  motion  in  a 
degree,  according  to  the  distance  from  the  centre, 

13 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

therefore,  every  atom  must  move  away  from  the 
centre  as  the  disk  is  revolved,  and  the  disk  must 
become  larger.  But  it  does  not  become  larger  by 
being  revolved  ever  so  swiftly.  Therefore,  the 
means  by  which  the  atoms  of  a  solid  substance 
are  held  together  must  be  of  a  mechanical  nature. 
The  atoms  must  be  interlocked ;  they  must  be  other- 
wise than  round,  and  they  must  be  in  actual  con- 
tact, one  with  another. 


PROPOSITION   VII. 

Liquid  substances  consist  of  particles  which  are 
not  interlocked. 

Because  we  can  readily  divide  any  liquid  sub- 
stance again  and  again,  and  as  readily  reunite  the 
divisions  in  one  whole.  Therefore,  it  is  evident 
that  the  liquid  substances  are  composed  of  par- 
ticles. 

And  because  a  liquid  substance  most  readily  as- 
sumes the  shape  of  any  vessel  containing  it ;  there- 
fore, it  is  also  evident  that  the  particles  of  a 
liquid  substance  are  not  interlocked. 

Therefore,  liquid  substances  are  composed  of 
particles  which  are  not  interlocked. 


14 


DISPLACEMENT 


PROPOSITION   VIII. 

The  particles  composing  a  liquid  substance  are 
not  in  contact  one  with  the  other  through  any 
ordinary  degree  of  heat. 

Because  the  change  from  the  solid  to  the  liquid 
state  of  any  substance  is  sudden  and  radical. 
Therefore,  it  is  not  merely  a  question  of  degree 
of  space  between  the  particles  of  the  same  matter 
in  either  state,  for  in  both  there  is  a  wide  range 
of  expansion,  where  a  solid  is  still  a  solid,  and  a 
liquid  is  still  a  liquid. 

Therefore,  the  change  consists  in  the  alteration 
of  the  particles  from  being  interlocked  in  the  solid 
substance,  to  being  not  interlocked  in  the  liquid 
state. 

Again,  if  the  particles  of  a  liquid  substance  are 
not  interlocked  when  first  the  substance  assumes 
the  liquid  state,  and  every  degree  of  heat  drives 
them  farther  apart,  because  liquids  expand  by  heat 
(common  experience)  ; 

Then,  the  particles  can  only  be  in  touch  with 
one  another  in  that  instant  when  they  cease  to 
interlock. 

Therefore,  the  particles  of  a  liquid  substance  are 
not  in  actual  contact  one  with  another  through 
any  ordinary  degrees  of  heat. 


15 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

PROPOSITION   IX. 

The  particles  composing  a  gaseous  substance  are 
not  round,  they  are  not  interlocked,  neither  are 
they  in  contact  one  with  another. 

Because  the  particles  of  a  gaseous  substance  are 
still  the  identical  particles  that  composed  the  same 
substance  in  the  solid  and  liquid  state;  therefore, 
these  particles  are  not  round.  (Prop.  VI.) 

Because  a  gaseous  substance  readily  assumes  the 
shape  of  any  vessel  containing  it;  therefore,  the 
particles  composing  it  are  not  interlocked. 

Because  the  same  mass  (Axiom  IV)  of  a  gas- 
eous substance  occupies  more  room  in  a  vessel 
than  it  does  while  in  the  liquid  state. 

Therefore,  the  particles  are  farther  apart  in  the 
gaseous  state  than  in  the  liquid  state. 

But  the  particles  were  already  apart  in  the 
liquid  state.  Then  they  must  be  still  farther  apart 
in  the  gaseous  state;  therefore,  the  particles  com- 
posing a  gaseous  substance  are  not  round;  they 
are  not  interlocked;  neither  are  they  in  contact 
one  with  another. 

PROPOSITION   X. 

A  perfect  sphere  cannot  be  built  up  of  lesser 
indivisible  spheres;  nor  can  a  perfect  cube  or  any 
other  rectilineal  solid  be  built  up  of  indivisible 
spheres. 

16 


DISPLACEMENT 

Let  the  circle  A  represent  the  circumference  of 
a  perfect  sphere.    And  let  the  lesser  circles  within 


Fig- A 


it  represent  the  circumference  of  smaller  indivis- 
ible spheres.  Then,  because  the  lesser  spheres  are 
indivisible,  their  outline  cannot  be  altered  to  con- 
form to  the  outline  of  the  greater  circle ;  and  their 
closest  possible  contact  with  each  other  leaves  inter- 
stices between  them.  (Prop.  III.)  , 

Therefore,  a  perfect  sphere  cannot  be  built  up 
of  lesser  spheres.  And  since  this  will  hold  good 
in  a  greater  degree  with  rectilineal  solid  bodies, 
therefore,  etc. 


PROPOSITION   XI. 

In  the  transmission  of  force  from  one  body  to 
another,  every  intervening  body  must  undergo  a 
change. 

Let  Figure  A  represent  the  experiment  wherein 

Fig  A 


17 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

a  number  of  elastic  glass  balls  are  suspended,  and 
the  first  one  in  the  series  is  swung  out  of  the  per- 
pendicular and  allowed  to  strike  the  next  one  in 
the  series. 

Then,  because  the  force  acquired  by  the  falling 
ball  is  transmitted  through  every  ball  in  the  series 
to  the  last  ball,  this  will  fly  out  of  the  perpendicu- 
lar. But  the  intervening  balls  have  remained  at 
rest;  as  far  as  we  can  perceive  they  have  suffered 
no  change. 

For  any  ball  between  the  first  and  the  last,  sub- 
stitute a  ball  of  lead  equal  in  weight.  Then,  be- 
cause the  ball  of  lead  is  not  elastic,  it  will  get 
dented,  and  the  last  one  will  not  fly  out.  But 
the  change  made  in  the  lead  ball  will  not  consume 
the  force,  for  heat  will  be  generated,  and  heat  will 
expand  the  surrounding  air,  and  change  after 
change  will  take  place  as  the  natural  result  of 
the  change  in  the  lead  ball. 

Yet  the  quality  which  makes  the  glass  ball  dif- 
ferent from  the  lead  ball  is  not  incapability  of 
change,  but  rather  it  is  that  a  glass  ball  can  re- 
sume its  original  shape  after  being  changed,  which 
constitutes  the  property  of  elasticity. 

Therefore,  the  glass  balls  have  also  undergone 
a  change,  and  in  the  transmission  of  force  from 
one  body  to  another  body,  every  intervening  body 
must  undergo  a  change. 


18 


DISPLACEMENT 

PROPOSITION   XII. 

Force  is  not  inherent  in  matter. 

We  know  force  through  changes  made  in  mat- 
ter. (Axiom  I.)  Everywhere  we  see  force  trans- 
ferred from  one  material  body  to  another. 

Wherever  force  is  exhibited,  we  perceive  it  only 
as  it  changes  from  one  body  to  another. 

And,  however  far  we  trace  a  force  backward, 
we  find  beyond  the  last  change  we  can  perceive 
necessity  for  another  change. 

The  sun  that  causes  all  the  varied  earth  life  must 
necessarily  himself  undergo  a  change;  for  we 
know  that  he  changes  positions  in  the  Universe. 

Again,  we  can  measure  the  action  of  force,  and 
fully  and  accurately  determine  the  amount  of  a 
certain  material,  which  must  undergo  a  given 
change  to  induce  a  certain  change  in  a  given 
amount  of  another  material  (so  many  pounds  of 
alcohol  burned  will  raise  so  many  pounds  of  water, 
through  a  given  number  of  degrees  of  heat). 

Therefore,  there  is  an  exact  equivalent  between 
any  two  manifestations  of  force. 

And,  even  with  our  imperfect  appliances,  we 
can  clearly  see  that  no  action  of  force,  or  no  force, 
as  it  is  generally  stated,  can  be  lost  out  of  the 
Universe. 

But  if  force  is  inherent  in  matter,  then  if  a 
given  amount  of  force  has  departed  from  a  mate- 
rial body,  there  must  then  be  less  remaining  in 

19 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

it  than  there  was  before,  or  that  body  must  have 
created  force,  and  that  creation  of  force  must  be 
continuous.  (Hypothesis.) 

But  a  constant  addition  of  force,  to  the  Uni- 
verse, would  be  directly  perceptible  in  planetary 
action,  while  on  the  contrary  the  manifestations 
of  force  are  plainly  repetitions,  and  the  result  of 
previous  change. 

If  we  deem  the  force,  heat,  inherent  in  coal,  it 
is  only  by  changing  the  coal  that  we  can  liberate 
the  force,  heat,  and  in  order  to  change  the  coal 
we  must  have  force  to  ignite  it. 

No  material  body  can  change  itself  by  its  own 
inherent  force,  as  far  as  our  science  can  observe. 
If  there  is  any  material  body  that  is  an  exception 
to  this,  it  is  a  fetish. 

But  true  science  has  nothing  to  do  with  fetishes, 
but  argues  from  cause  to  effect,  and  any  body  that 
gives  off  force  is  itself  changed  in  the  process. 

Then,  everywhere  that  we  trace  the  action  of 
force,  we  do  it  by  the  changes  wrought  in  mate- 
rial; and,  if  anywhere,  we  fail  to  see  change  in  a 
material,  which  exhibits  force  (radium  giving  out 
X  rays,  for  instance),  we  must  conclude  that  there 
is  a  change  going  on  in  the  material;  and  if  we 
want  to  know  anything  more  about  it,  we  must 
find  the  nature  of  that  change.  For  if  a  material 
does  give  out  of  its  own  inherent  force,  then  it  is 
a  thing  separate  from  the  economy  of  nature,  and 
there  remains  nothing  to  be  said  or  done  or  known ; 
we  must  simply  give  it  a  name  and  note  its  action. 
20 


DISPLACEMENT 

Again,  the  same  manifestation  of  force  (elec- 
tricity, for  instance)  acting  upon  two  different 
kinds  of  matter,  produces  entirely  different  changes 
in  them.  The  carbon  pencil  will  give  off  light,  and 
the  electro-magnet  will  pull  a  load  by  the  same 
electricity. 

Therefore,  it  is  apparent  that  different  kinds  of 
material  have  the  power  to  exhibit  the  same  uni- 
versal force,  which  passes  from  one  material  to 
another  material  in  their  own  peculiar  way,  but 
that  force  is  not  inherent  in  any  kind  of  matter.* 


PBOPOSITION   XIII.       - 

No  material  substance  can  produce  force,  nor  can 
any  material  substance  absorb  it  or  destroy  it. 

Force  cannot  be  stored  up  in  any  material,  nor 
in  any  way  be  augmented  or  decreased. 

Let  a  gun  be  loaded  and  fired.  There  will  be  a 
violent  change  of  some  material  close  by. 

The  force  was  not  inherent  in  the  gunpowder. 
Neither  has  it  been  transmitted  to  the  gunpowder 
on  a  previous  occasion  and  stored  up,  for  then  force 
would  have  been  changed  into  material  substance, 
and  force  is  not  a  material  substance.  (Def.  2.) 

*  NOTE. — This  proposition  must  necessarily  be  a  Dogma. 
All  the  reasoning  this  side  of  the  Divide  will  not  eradicate 
the  fetish  notion.  The  world  will  ever  remain  flat,  and  the 
sun  will  turn  around  it,  and  attraction  will  be  inherent  in 
the  magnet,  and  the  rabbit 's  foot  will  bring  luck,  ten  thou- 
sand years  after  the  discovery  of  America. 

21 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

Because  we  cannot  readily  trace  the  changes 
made  by  the  explosion  backward  of  the  powder,  is 
that  proof  that  there  were  no  changes? 

Every  substance  has  a  property. 

By  some  property  we  recognize  each  substance. 

The  changes  wrought  in  matter  by  force  are  dif- 
ferent in  any  two  kinds  of  matter;  the  force  light 
makes  one  substance  green  and  another  red. 

Then  is  every  substance  a  storehouse,  not  of 
force  but  of  a  capability  to  exhibit  the  action  of 
force  in  its  own  peculiar  way. 

A  bale  of  cotton  may  stop  a  bullet,  but  the  force 
that  sent  the  bullet  will  keep  on  through  all  time, 
because  it  is  one  continuous  whole  force;  through 
endless  changes  in  innumerable  bodies  it  must  go 
without  intermission  or  rest.* 

The  friction  which  retards  force — what  is  it  ? 

The  inequalities  of  two  moving  bodies  engage 
each  other,  and  a  part  of  the  force  heats  up  the 
bodies. 

Whether  mysterious  force  or  power  is  stored  up 
in  a  wooden  god,  or  whether-  a  cubic  inch  of  radium 
gives  out  light  and  X  rays  without  transmitted 
force,  or  a  lump  of  coal  is  held  to  have  stored  up 
the  sunshine  of  bygone  ages,  all  alike  are  con- 
trary to  our  best  conception  of  force. 

Therefore,  etc. 

*  This  proposition  has  no  pretence  of  originality  what- 
ever. But  it  is  an  important  stepping  stone,  for  in  the 
consideration  of  force,  particularly  in  momentum,  the  ques- 
tion of  force  storage  is  of  utmost  importance. 

22 


DISPLACEMENT 


PROPOSITION   XIV. 

The  primary  spheres  constituting  void  matter  can 
convey  force  from  one  organized  body  to  another 
organized  body  only  by  change  of  position. 

Because  the  force,  light,  comes  to  us  from  the 
sun,  and  is  made  manifest  to  us  on  earth,  there- 
fore, we  know  that  there  must  have  been  a  change 
in  matter  somewhere.  (Axiom  I.)  But  primary 
spheres  are  not  capable  of  change.  (Def.  6.)  Yet 
the  force,  light,  to  come  to  us  from  the  sun  must 
change  any  intervening  matter.  (Prop.  XII.) 

Therefore,  the  change  must  be  in  the  position  of 
the  primary  spheres;  or  at  least  that  portion  of 
them  which  are  between  the  first  one  nearest  the 
sun  and  the  last  one  nearest  to  us  on  earth. 

One  body  cannot  occupy  the  space  occupied 
by  another  body.  This  will  apply  whether  a  body  is 
indivisible  or  not;  and  it  is  evident  that  through 
this  law  only  can  a  number  of  bodies,  which  are 
unchangeable  and  unorganized,  be  brought  into 
the  economy  of  nature. 

Therefore,  the  primary  spheres  of  void  matter 
can  convey  force  between  organized  bodies  only 
through  change  of  position. 


23 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

PROPOSITION   XV. 

The  primary  spheres  of  void  matter  penetrate  all 
substances. 

Let  any  substance  be  heated.  Then  that  sub- 
stance will  require  more  room  in  a  vessel.  (Com- 
mon experience.)  But  it  cannot  occupy  more  room 
in  the  Universe,  while  it  preserves  its  identity. 
(Prop.  I.) 

Then,  something  else  which  required  room  in  the 
Universe  must  have  changed  its  place  in  the  Uni- 
verse, from  without  the  substance  heated  to  within 
the  substance. 

But  no  weight  has  been  added  to  the  substance 
by  the  addition  to  its  bulk.  (Axiom  IV.)  There- 
fore, it  was  no  organized  substance  which  changed 
its  place  from  without  the  substance  heated,  to 
within  the  substance ;  therefore,  it  must  have  been 
void  matter. 

And  since  any  substance  expands  by  heat,  and 
this  will  apply  to  bodies  of  all  sizes,  therefore,  the 
primary,  etc. 

PROPOSITION   XVI. 

Force  cannot  be  transmitted  from  one  body  to 
another  body  by  an  unbroken  wave. 

The  wave  of  the  ocean  may  roll  a  thousand  miles, 
but  when  it  strikes  the  shore  or  another  wave,  then 

24 


DISPLACEMENT 

only  is  its  force  transmitted,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  wave  (Def.  3)  is  broken  up. 

And  so  in  every  transmission  of  force  that  we 
can  observe  in  mechanics,  that  material  which  con- 
veys that  force  does  not  return  unchanged  whence 
it  came. 

The  water  that  drives  the  mill-wheel  may  not  be 
returned  to  the  mill-pond  until  it  returns  as  rain 
from  above. 

The  steam  that  drives  the  engine  must  be  con- 
densed before  it  may  be  returned  to  the  boiler. 

Therefore,  that  wave  which  conveys  force  and 
transmits  it  must  be  broken  up,  in  transmitting  its 
force.  But  let  it  be  otherwise,  and  let  the  wave 
theory  of  the  nineteenth  century  be  true. 

And  let  Figure  A  represent  two  bodies  B  and  C, 


and  let  the  dots  between  them  represent  ether  par- 
ticles. 

Then  it  is  evident  that  the  mass  of  ether  par- 
ticles may  not  vibrate  until  there  is  some  empty 
space  provided  for  them  to  vibrate  in.  (Axiom 
III.)  Therefore,  let  the  line  DE  cut  off  a  por- 
tion of  the  ether  particles,  and  let  the  remaining 
major  portion  act  as  a  wave  to  transmit  force  from, 
the  body  B  to  the  body  C.  (Hypothesis.) 

25 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

Then  as  soon  as  that  wave  leaves  the  body  B 
that  body  can  then  no  longer  transmit  force  to  it; 
and  after  it  has  left  B,  and  before  it  strikes  the 
body  C,  all  the  force  that  the  wave  is  to  transmit 
must  be  stored  up  in  the  wave. 

Then  when  the  wave  strikes  the  body  C,  and 
transmits  to  the  body  C  the  force  that  the  wave 
carried  (hypothesis),  there  will  be  nothing  to  re- 
turn the  wave  to  the  body  B. 

But  let  it  be  granted  that  to  every  transmission 
of  force  there  is  a  resistance  so  strong  in  the  re- 
ceiving body,  that  while  the  body  receives  a  por- 
tion of  the  force,  it,  also,  rejects  a  portion  large 
enough  to  return  the  wave  unbroken  whence  it 
came.  (Hypothesis.) 

Then  under  this  hypothesis  (which  is  the  wave 
theory)  there  must  be  innumerable  vacuums  in  the 
Universe,  which  is  absurd,  and  force  must  be  stored 
up  in  material,  which  is  untrue.  (Prop.  XIII.) 

And  last,  but  not  least,  the  ether  particles,  which 
compose  these  waves,  in  light,  heat  and  electricity, 
must  be  invested  with  inertia  in  order  that  the 
wave  may  rebound.* 

But  inertia  is  a  property  of  organized,  ponder- 

*  Clearly  the  interstices  between  Primary  Spheres  cannot 
be  looked  upon  as  vacuums.  And  any  aggregation  of  P.  S. 
cannot  be  conceived  to  possess  that  power  which  enables 
a  brickbat  to  acquire  momentum.  That  inertia  is  used, 
where  momentum  would  be  more  proper,  is  natural  when  it 
is  remembered  that  in  the  hazy  popular  conception  of  mo- 
mentum it  is  the  positive  result  of  an  entirely  negative 
quality  of  matter. 

26 


DISPLACEMENT 

able  material  only,  and  no  one  would  seriously 
think  of  investing  ether  particles,  which  have  no 
weight,  with  inertia,  which  is  based  upon  gravity 
and  in  plain  relation  to  mass. 


PROPOSITION   XVII. 

A  force  continually  passing  from  one  ~body  to 
another  body  must  be  transmitted  through  a  con- 
tinuous flow  of  material  from  the  transmitting  body 
to  the  receiving  body. 

Let  the  circle  S  represent  the  sun.  Let  the  circle 
E  represent  the  earth,  and  the  dots  between  them 
primary  spheres. 

Let  a  force  be  transmitted  from  S  to  E  through 
the  intervening  primary  spheres.  Then  the  inter- 


vening bodies  must  undergo  a  change.  (Prop. 
XL)  But  the  only  change  possible  in  primary 
spheres  is  in  their  position  (Prop.  XIV.),  and  the 
spheres  join  one  another.  (Prop.  I.) 

If  it  be  possible,  let  the  force  passing  from  S 
move  the  first  sphere  nearest  to  S  closer  to  the 
second  sphere.  Then  there  is  a  vacancy  between 

27 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

S  and  the  nearest  sphere,  and  the  transmission  of 
force  is  stopped,  unless,  from  out  of  the  body  S 
comes  forth  a  new  sphere  filling  the  vacancy  as 
soon  as  it  occurs. 

Then  it  is  evident  that  a  continual  addition  of 
spheres  from  the  body  S  will  finally  put  every 
sphere  between  S  and  E  in  the  closest  possible 
contact. 

Then,  in  order  to  change  position  to  convey 
force  from  S  to  E,  the  sphere  nearest  to  E  must 
be  incorporated  into  the  body  E  while  at  the  same 
time  a  sphere  is  disintegrated  from  the  body  S. 
And  if  the  transmission  of  force  is  continuous,  the 
flow  of  material  must  also  be  continuous. 

Let  it  be  otherwise,  and  let  an  aggregation  of 
P.  S.  in  the  nature  of  a  wave  vibrate  between  the 
bodies  S  and  E.  (Hypothesis.)  Then  such  vibrat- 
ing wave  must  have  vacant  space  to  move  in,  which 
is  impossible  in  a  Universe  that  is  full,  everywhere 
matter  joining  on  matter. 

And  an  aggregation  of  P.  S.,  void  of  all  organiza- 
tion, must  possess  capacity  for  acquiring  momen- 
tum, which  is  absurd.  And  the  force  conveyed  by 
the  vibration  of  the  wave  must  be  an  occult  force. 
(Definition  13).  It  must  be  stored  up  in  the  wave, 
which  is  impossible.  (Prop.  XIII.)  It  cannot  be 
in  any  way  limited  by  material,  or  determined  in 
amount  and  intensity.  No  law  can  be  applied  to 
it  that  is  universal  in  its  application.  Therefore, 
this  hypothesis  is  wrong,  and  a  force  passing  con- 
tinually from  one  body  to  another  must,  etc, 

28 


DISPLACEMENT 


PROPOSITION   XVIII. 

Force  cannot  be  transmitted  from  one  body  to 
another  body,  which  is  in  all  respects  equal  to  the 
first  body. 

Let  the  circle  A  represent  a  body  in  all  respects 
equal  to  the  body  represented  by  the  circle  B. 


And  let  a  force  be  transmitted  through  the  small 
bodies  represented  by  the  dots. 

Then  it  is  evident  that  if  B  is  in  all  respects 
equal  to  A,  it  is,  also,  equal  in  that  which  tends 
to  transmit  force,  from  A  to  B,  and  the  tendency 
will  be  equally  strong  to  transmit  force  from  B 
to  A. 

Let  the  force  to  be  transmitted  from  A  to  B  be 
that  manifestation  of  force  to  us  known  as  elec- 
tricity. 

Then,  if  A  and  B  are  both  balls  of  pure  copper 
and  equal  in  size  and  form,  both  charged  with 
positive  electricity  of  the  same  intensity,  there  will 
be  no  exhibition  of  electrical  energy  until  a  third 
inequal  body  is  brought  in  contact. 

When  the  water  below  the  mill  dam  gets  as  high 
as  it  is  above  the  dam,  there  is  no  more  power. 

29 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

And  since  we  can  see,  in  a  thousand  ways  of 
every-day  life,  that  all  motion  is  the  result  of 
inequality  of  things  around  us  and  ever  present 
force  equalizing  them,  therefore,  force  cannot 
be,  etc. 

PROPOSITION   XIX. 

All  substances  which  we  directly  perceive  are 
built  up  of  primary  spheres,  which  we  cannot  di- 
rectly perceive. 

Because  matter  is  continuous  throughout  the  Uni- 
verse (Prop.  I),  and  primary  spheres  of  void  mat- 
ter penetrate  all  substances.  (Prop.  XV.) 

Therefore,  all  the  primary  spheres  of  void  matter 
in  the  Universe  are  in  contact. 

Therefore,  any  two  bodies,  with  the  addition  of 
a  Universe  full  of  primary  spheres,  constitute  a 
solid  ring,  no  part  of  which  can  move  in  relation 
to  any  other  part  of  the  ring,  unless  there  is  in 
the  ring  one  part  which  may  get  longer  at  the  same 
time  that  another  part  is  getting  shorter. 

Because  the  primary  spheres  flow  to  us  from  the 
sun  and  make  changes  on  earth  which  we  can  per- 
ceive; therefore,  the  primary  spheres  must  on  the 
earth  be  built  up  into  ponderable  matter.  (Com- 
pare Prop.  XIII,  B.  3.) 

Then  the  sun  which  disorganizes  may  transmit 
force  to  the  earth,  which  organizes,  for  the  two 
bodies  are  unequal.  (Prop.  XVIII.) 

Therefore,  etc. 

30 


DISPLACEMENT 

PROPOSITION   XX. 

The  primary  spheres  which  are  built  up  into 
atoms  of  elementary  substance  occupy  less  space 
in  the  Universe  than  did  the  same  number  of  pri- 
mary spheres  in  void  matter. 

Because  the  atoms  of  elementary  substance  pos- 
sess an  identity.  (Scientific  data.) 

And  because  they  are  built  up  of  primary 
spheres.  (Prop.  XIX.) 

Therefore,  the  primary  spheres  must  be  in  them 
placed  in  a  fixed,  unalterable  system. 

But  the  only  way  of  uniformity  possible  is  the 
closest  possible  contact  in  spheres. 

And  since  every  substance  must  have  length  and 
breadth  and  height,  therefore,  the  primary  spheres 
of  atoms  must  be  placed  in  the  closest  possible 
conjunction.  (Ocular  demonstration.*) 

But  the  primary  spheres  of  void  matter  cannot 
all  be  in  the  closest  possible  contact.  (Prop.  IV.) 

Again,  let  a  measure  be  filled  with  spheres — 
double  B  shot,  for  instance.  Let  them  be  poured 
in  or  placed  layer  by  layer  in  any  possible  way. 
Let  them  be  shaken  and  stirred.  Then  the  measure 
will  be  full  no  more,  for  the  spheres  have  arranged 

*  The  ocular  demonstration  referred  to  is  the  laying  to- 
gether in  closest  possible  contact  of  spheres  equal  in  size. 
This  becomes  difficult  after  the  spheres  begin  to  be  numer- 
ous, but  affords  a  fascinating  study,  particularly  when  ap- 
plied in  attempts  to  ascertain  the  physical  shapes  of  atoms. 

31 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

themselves   into   groups  similar  to  atoms  of  ele- 
mentary substances. 

Therefore,  the  primary,  etc. 


PROPOSITION  XXI. 

The  change  of  void  matter  into  organized  matter, 
and  the  necessary  simultaneous  change  of  organ- 
ized matter  into  void  matter  through  the  resultant 
surplus  of  space  in  one,  and  the  resultant  want  of 
space  in  the  other,  constitute  that  inequality  which 
is  necessary  to  bring  forth  changes  in  matter,  or  a 
display  of  force. 

Can  a  cause  be  greater  than  that  which  was 
moved  by  it?  Can  anything  be  less  than  another 
thing,  when  both  are  inseparable  parts  of  one 
whole?  In  the  infinite  circle  of  cause  and  effect, 
and  subsequent  cause  which  was  the  result  of  the 
former  effect,  can  there  be  first  and  last  or  great 
or  small?  It  is  but  the  whole  which  is  great,  and 
the  smallest  part  still  represents  that  whole  ring 
of  cause  joined  inseparably  on  cause  coming  from 
the  infinite  and  going  to  the  infinite.  "The  wind 
blows  and  we  hear  the  sound  thereof,  but  we  know 
not  whence  it  cometh  and  whither  it  goeth. ' ' 

The  observation  of  the  changes  wrought  in  mat- 
ter by  force,  and  of  the  manner  in  which  these 
changes  are  made,  that  includes  the  whole  field  of 
human  reasoning;  beyond  that  lies  the  infinite. 

32 


DISPLACEMENT 

The  one  thing  common  to  all  material  is  that  it 
must  fill  a  certain  amount  of  space.  In  every  other 
respect  there  are  differences  by  which  we  distin- 
guish one  material  from  another. 

Our  most  abstract  logic  cannot  invest  void  mat- 
ter with  any  other  qualification  than  that  it  must 
consist  of  primary  spheres,  which  must  ever  occupy 
a  certain  amount  of  space.  Therefore,  the  only 
change  P.  S.  can  undergo  is  a  change  in  position 
relative  to  each  other  and  to  a  positive  position 
in  universal  space.  The  position  of  P.  S.  in  atoms 
and  of  atoms  in  further  degrees  of  organization 
determines  the  form  of  atoms  and  high  organiza- 
tions, and  by  a  change  of  position  in  the  atoms  the 
characteristics  of  the  atom  may  be  greatly  changed. 
But  a  substitution  of  one  sphere  or  perfectly 
simular  atom  cannot  produce  a  change  except  that 
such  exchange  may  require  space  and  time. 

A  total  change  of  tangible  material  into  void 
matter  cannot  happen  in  a  Universe  that  is 
full,  unless  it  is  simultaneous  with  the  change 
of  an  equal  amount  of  void  matter  into  organ- 
ized matter,  for  this  would  not  be  the  additional 
space  required.  (Prop.  XX.)  Whether  these  two 
changes  take  place  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  each  other,  or  separated  by  a  great  distance,  this 
question  does  not  invalidate  or  transform  the  ne- 
cessity of  their  simultaneousness.  Again,  to  what- 
ever cause  a  universal  movement  is  primarily  at- 
tributed, the  changes  in  matter  by  force  are  the 
result  of  this  crowding  for  space  to  occupy.  And 
33 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

force  itself,  that  does  the  crowding,  is  just  as  inert 
as  matter  is;  in  its  manifestation  to  human  per- 
ception it  is  nothing  but  a  crowding  for  space. 

Yet  are  matter  and  force  both  infinite  in  origin. 
But  the  displacements  themselves,  between  mate- 
rial bodies,  bring  into  human  perception  both  mat- 
ter and  force.  - 


34 


BOOK  II 


35 


Weist  du  wie  viel  Sternlein  stehen 
An  dem  blauen  Himmelszelt  ? 
Weist  du  wie  viel  Schaeflein  gehen 
Auf  dem  weitem  gruenem  Feld? 
Gott  der  Herr  hat  sie  gezaehlet, 
Das  ihm  aueh  nicht  Eines  faehlet, 
Von  der  ganzen  grossen  Zahl. 

— Deutsches  Volkslied. 


m 


PROPOSITION   I. 

Whatever  thing  we  perceive  is  invested  with  a 
separate  identity. 

Because  primary  spheres  are  indestructible  iden- 
tities. (Del  6.) 

And  because  all  substances  are  built  up  of  pri- 
mary spheres.  (Prop  XIX,  B.  1.) 

Therefore,  no  substance  can  possess  primary 
identity. 

And  because  no  manifestation  of  force  is  sepa- 
rate and  apart  from  the  whole  universal  force. 
(Prop.  XIII.) 

Therefore,  no  manifestation  of  force  can  possess 
primary  identity. 

Yet  anything  must  be  separated  from  the  whole, 
in  order  to  impress  us,  and,  therefore,  we  bestow 
upon  everything  a  constructive  identity;  we  give 
that  identity  a  name,  and  several  similar  identities 
we  designate  by  numbers,  and  the  numbers  become 
again  identities,  and  the  form  of  any  organized 
substance  becomes  an  identical  form. 

Then  the  merging  of  several  forms  must  again 
produce  an  identical  form,  whose  identity  may  be 
exhibited  by  entirely  new  attributes.  Because 
human  reason  is  based  upon  identical  conscious- 
ness, it  cannot  conceive  of  anything  that  does  not 
possess  identity.  And  however  vague  and  misty 

37 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

any  human  thought  or  conception  may  be,  it  must 
ultimately  be  based  on  something  having  identity. 


PROPOSITION   II. 

The  increase  of  squares  is  not  an  arbitrary  en- 
largement, but  a  fixed  series  of  the  multiplication 
of  individual  squares. 

Let  Figure  A  represent  a  square  (X)  increased 
three  times  in  length  and  breadth.  Then  it  will 

Fig-A 


X 

o 

S 

0 

Q 

s 

s 

S 

s 

be  seen  that  square  X  increased  by  the  addition 
of  three  squares  (0)  is  increased  twice  in  length 
and  breadth.  And  the  farther  addition  of  the 
five  squares  (S)  makes  the  whole  resultant  square 
three  times  as  long  and  three  times  as  wide  as  the 
original  square  (X). 

Because  any  square  which  we  may  use  as  a 
standard  of  measurement,  as,  for  instance,  a  square 
inch,  is  an  identical  individual  square.  Therefore, 
any  area,  which  we  may  measure  with  this  stand- 

38 


CHANGING    IDENTITIES 

ard,  must  contain  such  a  number  of  standard 
squares  as  is  contained  in  the  series  of  the  increase  of 
squares. 

The  following  is  the  beginning  of  the  series : 

I2 =      1  =  1  It  is  easy  to  see  that 

2*-—  4—  (i_|_  3)  the  additional  identical 
32=  9  =  (  4  +  5)  squares  required  in  the 
42  =  16  =  (  9  +  7)  increase  of  squares  form 
52  =  25  =(16+  9)  an  arithmetical  progres- 
62  =  36  =  (25  +  11)  sion  whose  common  dif- 
T  —  49  =  (36  +  13)  ference  is  two. 
82  =  64  —  (49  +  15)  When  we  divide  a  pie, 
92=  81  =(64 +  17)  we  multiply  the  pieces  of 
102=100=  (81  +  19)  which  it  consists,  but  if 

it  is  a  square  pie  to  be 

cut  into  square  pieces  the  number  of  pieces  must 
again  fall  into  that  fixed  series  of  squares,  or  they 
cannot  be  both  square  and  equal  in  area.  Thus  a 
given  square  area  may  not  be  divided  into  six 
equal  square  areas  any  more  than  a  square  area 
may  be  built  up  of  six  identical  square  areas. 
Therefore,  the  increase  of  squares  is  not,  etc. 

PKOPOSITION   III. 

The  increase  of  cubes  as  designated  ~by  numbers 
is  not  arbitrary,  but  a  fixed  series. 

One  is  an  identical  cube,  but  it  takes  an  addi- 
tion of  seven  identical  cubes  to  make  the  next 
larger  identical  cube. 

39 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

Annexed  is  the  table  of  the  increase  of  cubes : 

1  +    7  =      8  It  will  be  seen  that  the 

8  +    7  +  12  =    27  additional   identical  cubes 

19  required  for   the   increase 

27  +  19  +  18  =    64  -of   cubes   form    an    arith- 

37  metical  progression  whose 

64  +  37  -j-  24  =  125  common  difference  is  six. 

61  Therefore,  the  increase, 

125  +  61+  30=216  etc. 
etc 

PROPOSITION   IV. 

The  increase  of  every  plane  figure  is  after  the 
square,  and  the  increase  of  every  form  is  after  the 
cube. 

Let  A  be  any  triangle,  then  it  is  evident  that 
four  similar  triangles  in  B  make  up  a  similar  tri- 


angle,  every  side  of  which  is  twice  as  long  as  the 
corresponding  side  of  the  first  identical  triangle. 

The  triangle  C  is  built  up   of  nine  triangles, 
each  one  similar  to  the  triangle  A.     Therefore, 
40 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 

any  side  of  the  triangle  C  is  three  times  as  long  as 
the  corresponding  side  of  the  triangle  A,  and  the 
whole  area  of  the  triangle  C  is  nine  times  the 
area  of  triangle  A.  Circles  are  to  one  another  as 
the  squares  on  their  diameters.  (Euclid.) 

The  cubic  contents  of  any  solid  are  determined 
by  multiplying  the  length  and  breadth  by  the 
height.  This  holds  good  of  every  solid  in  any 
shape. 

Therefore,  if  two  horses  are  similar  in  shape, 
which  is  identity  of  form,  then  if  one  is  fourteen 
hands  high  and  the  other  sixteen,  the  little  horse 

14      14      14 
will  displace  —  X  —  X  —  as  much  water  as  the 

16      16      16 
larger  horse. 

Therefore,  etc. 


PROPOSITION   V. 

The  mass  of  any  substance  is  that  number  of 
primary  spheres  which  are  held  together  in  the 
constitution  of  the  substance. 

Because  every  substance  is  built  up  of  primary 
spheres.  (Prop.  XIX,  B.  1.)  Therefore,  every 
substance  can  be  compared  with  any  other  sub- 
stance in  common  origin. 

And  since  force  is  not  inherent  in  matter  (Prop. 
II,  B.  1)  ;  and  as  it  cannot  be  stored  up  in  any 
substance  (Prop.  XIII,  B.  1)  ;  therefore,  when  the 

41 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

same  force  makes  a  different  change  in  different 
substances,  it  must  be  because  of  the  difference  in 
number  of  primary  spheres  which  constitute  the 
different  substances,  or  the  difference  in  the  form 
necessarily  assumed  by  the  subdivisions  of  differ- 
ent substances. 

Yet  there  remains  ever  that  common  parentage, 
and  the  last  essential  equality  of  all  matter,  and 
based  on  that  last  equality  is  the  mass  of  any  sub- 
stance. 

Therefore,  since  no  application  of  any  known 
force  can  change  the  weight  of  any  substance,  and 
because  no  addition  of  P.  S.,  in  their  void  state,  to 
the  bulk  of  any  substance  increases  its  weight. 

Therefore,  etc. 

PROPOSITION   VI. 

The  combination  of  four  primary  spheres,  each 
to  two  others  in  the  closest  possible  contact,  con- 
stitute the  first  form  of  organized  matter. 

Because  all  material  substance  is  built  up  of 
primary  spheres.  (Prop.  XIX,  B.  1). 

Therefore,  the  last  possible  subdivision  of  any 
substance,  while  it  still  remains  an  identical  sub- 
stance, is  that  number  of  primary  spheres  which 
are  held  together  in  this  new  constructive  identity, 
the  atom. 

And  since  that  identity  is  constant  through  all 
the  changes  which  matter  undergoes  in  our  direct 

42 


CHANGING    IDENTITIES 

observation,  therefore,  the  primary  spheres  thus 
held  together  in  the  new  identity  of  the  atom  must 
be  closer  together  than  it  is  possible  for  all  the 
primary  spheres  of  void  matter  to  be.  (Prop.  IV, 
B.I.) 

Therefore,  the  primary  spheres  of  atoms  of  or- 
ganized matter  are  held  together  in  the  closest  pos- 
sible contact. 

Again,  every  substance  has  height  on  thickness 
as  well  as  length  and  breadth.  Therefore,  it  is 
altogether  unlikely  that  primary  spheres  should 
combine  in  plane  layers.  Then,  the  first  distinctive 
form  is  that  produced  by  four  spheres,  which  in 
closest  possible  contact  approach  the  form  of  a 
pyramid  whose  sides  are  equalateral  triangles. 

Therefore,  etc. 


PROPOSITION   VII. 

(Ocular  Demonstration.) 

Atoms  of  different  elementary  substances  are  not 
identical  in  form,  for  every  addition  of  spheres,  to 
any  form  built  up  of  spheres,  makes  a  new  form. 

Atoms  of  different  elements  have  different 
weights.  (Scientific  data.)  But  primary  spheres 
of  void  matter  added  to  any  substance,  while  it 
is  increased  in  degree  of  heat,  adds  no  weight. 

Therefore,  the  increase  of  weight  in  the  atom  of 
one  element  over  the  weight  of  the  atom  of  an- 

43 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

other  element  is  an  increase  of  the  number  of 
spheres  held  by  the  heavier  atom  in  its  own  con- 
stitution. 

But  an  indivisible  sphere  cannot  conform  to  the 
outline  of  any  other  form,  but  its  own  identical 
form;  therefore,  a  form  assumed  by  four  spheres 
cannot  strictly  be  repeated  by  any  other  number 
of  indivisible  spheres. 

But  a  simple  laying  together  of  spheres  of  any 
uniform  diameter  in  closest  possible  contact  affords 
the  easiest  and  surest  proof. 

Therefore,  etc. 


PROPOSITION   VIII. 

The  increase  of  form  in  the  last  subdivision  of 
substance  is  an  approximation  and  cannot  be  an 
absolute  recurrence  of  the  same  form. 

Because  all  substances  are  built  up  of  primary 
spheres.  (Prop.  XIX,  B.  1).  And  because  every 
addition  of  spheres  to  a  form  built  up  of  spheres 
produces  a  new  form.  (Prop.  VII,  B.  2).  There- 
fore, one  form  cannot  strictly  be  the  enlargement 
of  another  identical  form. 

There  may  be  great  similarity  in  forms,  larger 
and  smaller — the  general  outline  may  be  repeated. 
But  there  is  a  well  defined  limit,  where  no  more 
spheres  can  be  added,  each  to  two  others  in  the 
closest  possible  contact. 

Let  it  be  otherwise  and  let  the  form  of  atoms 
44 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 

be  strictly  similar  (hypothesis),  then  the  atomic 
weights  must  fall  into  the  strict  series  of  the  in- 
crease of  cubes.  But  evidently  such  is  not  the 
case. 

Therefore,  etc. 


PROPOSITION   IX. 

The  primary  spheres  composing  the  molecules 
of  elementary  or  chemically  compound  substances 
are  in  some  places  of  contact  each  to  two  others 
in  the  closest  possible  contact. 

Because  any  two  substances  require  more  room 
in  a  vessel  before  a  chemical  combination  takes 
place  than  they  do  after  it  has  taken  place. 

And  because  every  chemical  combination  evolves 
heat. 

Therefore,  the  atoms,  or  molecules  composing 
the  original  substances,  have  come  closer  together 
than  they  were  in  each  respective  substance. 

Again,  because  the  smallest  subdivision  of  the 
resultant  compound,  which  we  can  perceive,  still 
possesses  properties  different  from  either  original 
substance,  it  is  evident  that  a  new  identity  has 
been  constructed.  To  this  new  identity  we  give 
the  name  molecule. 

An  examination  of  the  first  atom  (Prop.  VI, 
B.  2)  shows  that  this  form  will  fit  another  similar 
form,  and  many  others  that  are  composed  of  more 
than  five  spheres.  Then  while  every  sphere,  be- 

45 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

longing  to  the  form  of  any  atom,  must  be  in  clos- 
est contact  with  two  others,  and  while  even  in  the 
conjunction  of  two  atoms,  constituting  a  molecule, 
there  must  be  points  or  place  where  the  several 
spheres  come  into  closest  contact,  yet  there  must 
be  a  radical  difference  between  atoms  and  molecules 
in  respect  to  the  closest  contact  of  their  constitut- 
ing spheres. 

In  a  mere  mechanical  mixture  these  points  of 
closest  contact  may  be  considered  absent,  and  P.  S. 
in  their  void  state  may  intervene. 

A  classification  of  identities  as  primary  (pri- 
mary sphere),  secondary  (atoms),  of  the  third  de- 
gree (molecules)  and  subsequent  higher  degrees, 
may  properly  be  made,  as  based  upon  the  degree 
of  intimate  contact  of  the  spheres  constituting  the 
identity.  And  in  higher  degrees  of  organization 
into  visible  shapes  and  outlines,  the  contact  of  the 
spheres  of  atoms  must  ever  remain  the  closest  pos- 
sible contact. 

Therefore,  etc. 

PROPOSITION   X. 

In  the  formation  of  new  identities,  by  the  com- 
bination of  atoms  and  molecules,  the  primary 
spheres  are  not  in  closest  possible  contact,  but 
there  remain  interstices  between  the  several  atoms 
or  molecules. 

Because  all  substances  we  can  directly  perceive 
expand  by  heat,  and  all  substances  may  be  con- 
46 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 

tracted  by  the  withdrawal  of  heat.  (Common  ex- 
perience.) Therefore,  there  are  in  all  substances 
spaces  not  occupied  by  that  substance.  (Prop.  V, 
B.  1.)  But  somewhere  the  expansion  by  heat  stops, 
and  the  last  identical  atom  is  not  decomposed  by  it. 
There  is  then  a  difference  in  the  construction  of 
an  atom  and  the  tangible,  visible  product  of  the 
many-fold  multiplication  of  the  atom  in  a  sub- 
stance. (Def.  9.)  Therefore,  the  ordinary  expan- 
sion of  substances  by  heat  is  not  an  enlargement 
of  interstices  in  the  molecules,  but  of  the  interstices 
between  the  several  molecules  composing  the  sub- 
stance heated. 


PROPOSITION   XI. 

In  the  transmission  of  force  from  one  body  to 
another  body,  every  spheral  body  acts  as  if  the 
whole  force  proceeded  from  or  was  directed  to  the 
centre. 

Substituting  for  force  the  word  gravity,  we  have 
one  of  Newton's  laws,  which  he  has  fully  demon- 
strated. 

But  gravity  necessarily  makes  the  background 
for  the  action  of  any  other  manifestation  of  force. 

Therefore,  the  one  universal  force,  acting 
through  a  similar  form,  must  act  in  a  similar  way, 
if  it  is  not  altered  through  the  intervention  of 
other  forms. 

The  action  of  spheral  bodies,  as  observed  in  the 
47 


MECHANISM    OF    NATUEE 

run  of  billiard  balls,  while  fully  illustrating  this 
proposition,  is  influenced  by  many  imperfections 
of  material  and  inaccuracy  of  observation.  Yet 
enough  can  be  readily  seen  to  prove  conclusively 
that  the  balls  act  as  if  their  acquired  force  were 
situated  at  their  centre. 

Let  Figure  A  represent  the  diameter  of  two 
billiard  balls,  B  and  C.     And  let  the  ball  C  be 


fig  A 


projected  so  as  to  strike  the  ball  B  at  the  point 
D.  Then,  those  particles  that  make  up  the  point 
of  contact  in  each  respective  ball  are  the  only 
parts  of  the  balls  which  come  in  actual  contact; 
and,  therefore,  these  particles,  under  the  force  of 
impact,  must  tend  to  separate  in  a  straight  line, 
viz.,  the  line  B.  F.  But  they  do  not  fly  off  in 
that  direction. 

Again,  let  each  ball  be  considered  as  one  whole 
particle,  regardless  of  any  consideration  of  its 
common  centre  or  the  point  of  contact. 

48 


CHANGING    IDENTITIES 

Then  the  ball  C  being  projected  against  the  ball 
B  must  either  be  repelled  in  the  same  straight  line 
or  projection  or  carry  the  ball  B  along  with  itself 
in  a  continuation  of  the  same  straight  line  C  D  E. 

But  the  balls  do  not  run  together  or  separate 
in  that  line  C  D  E  any  more  than  in  the  line 
BDF. 

For  the  ball  B  will  move  off,  after  being  struck, 
in  the  line  D  L,  which  bisects  the  angle  B  D  E, 
and  the  ball  C  will  move  off  in  the  line  D  M,  which 
bisects  the  angle  E  D  F.  Therefore,  the  ball  acts 
as  if  the  whole  acquired  force  were  situated  neither 
in  the  point  of  contact,  nor  in  the  whole  mass  of 
the  ball,  but  in  a  point  midway  between;  that  is, 
the  centre. 

PROPOSITION   XII. 

In  the  transmission  of  force  from  one  body  to 
another  body,  every  body,  spherical  or  not  spher- 
ical, acts  as  if  the  whole  force  proceeded  from  or 
ivas  directed  to  the  centre  of  gravity. 

Let  Figure  A  represent  a  lever  resting  upon  a 
fulcrum;  and  let  the  long  arm  be  nine  times  as 
long  as  the  short  arm. 


90  O 


Fig.  A 
49 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

On  the  short  arm  let  90  Ibs.  weight  be  placed. 

Then  it  is  evident  that,  in  order  to  balance  the 
90  Ibs.  on  the  fulcrum,  10  Ibs.  of  weight  must  be 
placed  on  the  end  of  the  long  arm. 

But  gravity  acts  in  this  case  as  if  the  whole 
weight  were  resting  on  the  fulcrum,*  which  is  the 
centre  of  gravity. 

For  either  or  both  weights,  substitute  any  other 
pressure  or  force,  and  the  result  remains  the  same. 

Therefore,  any  other  force  acts  in  this  respect 
as  gravity  does,  namely,  as  if  the  whole  force  pro- 
ceeded from  or  was  directed  to  the  centre  of 
gravity. 

PROPOSITION   XIII. 

Back  of  every  change  in  material  wrought  by 
force,  yet  within  the  finite  circle  of  human  reason- 
ing, lies  the  cause  of  all  change — "life." 

It  is  because  we  live  that  we  perceive  change. 

All  around  us  things  die  that  other  things  may 
live.  All  growth  is  accomplished  by  building  up 
that  which  has  been  dismembered  for  the  use  of 
growing. 

And  so  intimate  are  life  and  death  that  they 
must  needs  be  simultaneous. 

There  can  be  no  plus  without  minus. 

*  Any  force  manifestation  where  a  movement  of  particles 
or  bodies  can  be  perceived  is  ever  intimately  associated 
with  gravity,  and  those  laws  of  gravity  that  have  been 
fully  proved  by  Newton  can  be  applied  to  many  force 
manifestations. 

50 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 

There  can  be  no  minus  without  plus. 

There  can  be  no  life  without  death. 

There  can  be  no  death  without  life. 

The  sun  decomposes  that  the  earth  may  compose. 

But  what  is  it  that  says  to  the  sun,  ' '  Thou  shalt 
decompose,"  and  to  the  earth,  "Thou  shalt  grow"? 

This  decree  we  call  life. 

Then  is  all  life  but  a  change,  and  all  change  but 
the  result  of  life 


PROPOSITION   XIV. 

Life  is  that  power  possessed  by  living  identities 
which  enables  them  to  arrange  the  matter  of  the 
Universe  into  their  own  identical  form. 

To  all  things  which  have  the  power  of  voluntary 
motion  we  concede  animal  life. 

To  all  things  that  reproduce  their  own  form  by 
growth  we  can  observe,  we  concede  plant  life. 

Yet  every  stone  is  made  up  of  particles,  and 
even  stones  have  a  family  likeness;  many  exhibit 
visible  signs  of  growth — namely,  crystals — and  the 
very  fact  of  particle  united  with  particle  in  or- 
dered systematic  way  argues  growth,  and  growth 
is  the  visible  sign  of  life. 

Because  we  can  see  no  increase  of  volume  in  the 
stone,  we  hold  it  to  be  dead.  At  least  it  is  dead 
now.  Yet  our  apple  tree  does  not  increase  in  size 
during  the  winter  season,  and  our  ox  may  decrease 
in  bulk  and  weight,  yet  both  ox  and  tree  are  alive. 

51 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

Our  science  can  resolve  our  ox  and  tree  into  the 
elements  that  compose  each ;  and  each  has  elements 
that  the  other  also  possesses. 

And  each  has  built  up  these  same  elements  into 
a  very  different  form. 

Because  ox  and  tree  grow  up  before  our  eyes, 
which  perceive  the  organs  of  their  growth,  we  know 
they  are  alive.  But  we  cannot  see  organs  of  as- 
similation and  growth  in  a  stone,  neither  can  we 
perceive  any  increase  or  decrease  of  volume. 

Ox  and  tree  are  continually  wasting  away  and 
continually  building  up,  and  when  they  cease  to 
build  up  they  are  dead,  even  so  the  stone. 

Ox  and  tree  have  been  alive  and  built  up  into 
their  form — so  has  the  stone — and  ox  and  tree  shall 
again  dissolve  into  the  elements  that  composed 
them — so  shall  the  stone. 

The  ox  shall  dissolve  more  rapidly  than  the  tree, 
and  the  tree  shall  dissolve  more  rapidly  than  the 
stone. 

Then  has  life  built  up  each  and  death  shall  re- 
solve each.  » 

PROPOSITION   XV. 

Every  transmission  of  force  from  one  body  to 
another  body  requires  time;  all  growth  requires 
time,  and  universal  life  and  death  require  time. 

Because  we  can  perceive  no  manifestation  of 
force  which  is  really  instantaneous,  we  have  long 

52 


CHANGING    IDENTITIES 

ago  concluded  with  the  preacher,  "  There  is  a  time 
for  all  things/' 

Let  a  snowball  be  thrown  into  boiling  water;  it 
will  take  time  to  melt  the  snowball. 

The  electric  spark  takes  time  to  cross  the  At- 
lantic. 

Even  light  takes  time  to  come  from  the  stars 
to  us. 

But  one  arm  of  our  weighing  scale  goes  up  just 
as  the  other  goes  down. 

When  we  strike  the  drill  with  our  hammer  on 
one  end,  at  the  same  instant  it  strikes  the  rock  with 
the  other  end. 

Yet  the  drill  is  not  one  whole,  but  the  particles 
composing  it  may  rebound  that  blow  onto  our  nose, 
and  we  may  note  an  instant  between  the  given  blow 
and  the  recoil. 

But  the  weighing  beam  acts  as  one  whole.  And 
a  string  of  primary  spheres  in  one  straight  line 
touching  one  another  must  act  as  one  whole  body, 
if  a  force  act  upon  them  in  that  same  straight 
line. 

But  in  many  cases,  we  think  that  force  is  trans- 
mitted instantaneously,  when  it  really  is  not,  and 
cannot  be  when  it  acts  through  particles  capable 
of  change  in  position  without  changing  the  position 
of  all  the  particles  of  the  body  or  bodies. 

Let  Figure  A  represent  two  series  of  suspended 
elastic  balls,  and  let  B  represent  an  elastic  plate 
hung  so  it  will  strike  both  series  of  balls  at  once. 
Then  if  no  time  were  required  for  the  transmission 

53 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

of  force,  the  last  ball  of  each  series  would  fly  out 
at  identically  the  same  time. 

But  they  do  not,  and  the  experiment  carefully 


conducted  will  show  that  there  is  an  appreciable 
difference. 

It  is  then  impossible  to  convey  force  through  any 
space  occupied  by  particles  without  consuming 
time,  unless  these  particles  are  both  incapable  of 
change  in  themselves  or  in  their  relative  position 
to  each  other,  because  the  force  must  act  upon  one 
particle  after  another. 

Again, 'growth  is  the  addition  of  one  part  to  an- 
other part,  and  the  part  that  is  added  to  this  com- 
ponent must  necessarily  be  added  later. 

But  life  and  death  are  deemed  instantaneous. 
Because  that  change  from  the  organizing  to  the 
disorganizing  must  begin  at  same  instant. 

But  in  a  thing  alive,  we  may  see  utter  decay  on 
one  end  and  vigorous  life  on  the  other.  Can  any 
one  tell  when  our  most  instant  death  takes  place? 
We  cannot  tell  where  death  commences  in  our 
apple  tree.  There  is  no  part  of  our  ox  we  can 
destroy  and  say  this  instant  he  is  dead.  When 
does  the  dead  egg  become  a  living  chicken?  But 

54 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 

between  this  egg  and  the  chicken  there  lies  time, 
and  all  science  may  not  hatch  an  egg  instanta- 
neously. 

PROPOSITION   XVI. 

Every  identity  endowed  with  life  is  also  endowed 
with  power  to  bestow  that  life  upon  a  simular  new 
identity. 

All  life  is  the  changing  of  broken  up  identity 
into  new  identity.  (Prop.  XIV,  B.  2.) 

Clearly  we  see  all  around  us  the  life  of  plants 
and  animals,  sustained  by  the  death  of  other  plants 
and  animals.  But  the  sun  also  dies  that  the  earth 
may  live.  (Prop.  XVII,  B.  1.) 

In  this  Universe,  every  primary  sphere  is  in  con- 
tact with  two  other  primary  spheres.  (Prop.  I, 
B.I.) 

Therefore,  every  primary  sphere  is  in  direct 
communication  with  the  whole  Universe. 

And  every  manifestation  of  force  in  an  identical 
body  is  the  result  of  universal  force;  that  is,  a 
movement  that  affects  every  primary  sphere  in  the 
Universe. 

There  is  therefore  no  rest.  There  must  be  either 
growth  or  decay;  there  must  be  either  living  or 
dying  in  all  those  identities  that  for  a  season  hold 
together  a  definite  number  of  primary  spheres  in 
a  definite  identical  form. 

Again,  we  clearly  see  that  plants  and  animals 
bring  forth  their  own  kind,  and  we  know  that  con- 

55 


.MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

tinuous  plant  and  animal  life  depends  on  continual 
reproduction. 

But  we  cannot  directly  perceive  organized  mat- 
ter disorganizing  into  void  matter,  or  any  organ- 
ized matter  coming  into  existence  from  void  matter. 

If  the  earth  organizes  the  void  matter  coming  to 
it  from  the  sun,  where  is  that  newly  organized 
matter? 

The  earth  does  not  grow  perceptibly  in  circum- 
ference nor  density,  for  an  increase  in  mass  must 
make  a  change  in  its  orbit. 

Hypothesis  and  theories  may  be  useful  as  a 
basis  for  investigation,  yet  a  known  truth  can  only 
be  a  real  stepping  stone  to  truth. 

Are  comets  new  born  worlds  ?  Are  meteors  frag- 
ments of  dead  worlds?  Our  answers  are  as  yet 
little  more  than  theory.  And  yet  comets  and  me- 
teors testify  of  life  and  death. 

All  force  is  universal  force,  and  all  matter  is 
universal  matter. 

Therefore,  if  organized  bodies  in  plant  life  and 
animal  life  give  life  to  similar  bodies,  that  power 
must  be  possessed  also  by  organized  bodies  which 
have  not  the  same  kind  or  degree  or  measure  of 
life  as  plants  and  animals  have ;  and  atoms  of 
hydrogen  must  at  some  time  have  power  to  or- 
ganize other  atoms  of  hydrogen. 


56 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 


PROPOSITION    XVII. 

The  production  of  new  atoms  of  elementary  sub- 
stances from  void  matter  is  a  necessity,  and  the 
primary  spheres  composing  the  new  born  atom  must 
needs  form  into  that  new  identity  and  no  other. 

Because  all  atoms  are  nuade  up  of  primary 
spheres.  (Prop.  XIX,  B.  1.)  And  because  simular 
atoms  contain  the  same  number  of  primary  spheres. 

Therefore,  the  production  of  a  new  atom  con- 
sists in  bringing  together,  and  in  holding  together 
with  the  same  power  that  holds  the  parent  atom 
together,  just  so  many  primary  spheres  in  just 
such  a  form. 

And  it  is  evident  that  the  accidental  coming 
together  in  closest  contact  of  four  primary  spheres 
will  not  produce  the  first  form  of  organized  mat- 
ter ;  otherwise,  all  matter  would  have  long  ago  been 
organized  into  that  form. 

The  most  exact  reproduction  that  our  art  is  able 
to  make  of  any  form  is  to  use  that  form  to  make  a 
mould,  and  to  fill  up  that  mould  to  reproduce  the 
form. 

Circles  of  like  diameter,  drawn  on  a  plane  in 
closest  contact,  will  show  that  one  circle  is  sur- 
rounded by  six  others.  And  these  seven  are  again 
surrounded  by  six  figures  of  seven  circles  each. 
In  like  manner,  if  three  circles  are  considered  as 
a  triangle,  it  is  surrounded  by  six  simular  triangles. 

And  with  circles,  triangles,  or  any  other  figure, 
57 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

produced  by  circles  in  closest  contact,  this  is  ex- 
tended in  an  infinite  series,  the  conjunction  of 
seven  ever  producing  an  enlarged  figure  simular 
to  the  original. 

Evidently  atoms  are  not  P.  S.  held  in  one  plane 
layer,  but  are  in  closest  contact  in  three  dimen- 
sions. 

Then  twelve  identical  forms,  built  up  of  spheres, 
equidistant  from  a  common  centre^  will  produce 
at  their  centre,  by  their  conjunction,  a  mould  that 
will  reproduce  the  identical  form  whenever  it  is 
filled  with  spheres  of  equal  diameter.* 


PROPOSITION   XVIII. 

All  growth  is  the  birth  of  new  identities,  and 
many  living  identities  must  dissolve  into  primary 
spheres  before  they  can  ~be  taken  up  into  a  new 
living  identity. 

All  food  must  be  digested  before  the  animal  can 
assimilate  it. 

All  plant  food  has  to  be  changed  before  the  plant 
can  make  use  of  it  in  growing. 

Bones  will  not  directly  make  bones,  neither  will 

*  The  "hypothesis  that  twelve  atoms  or  molecules  equi- 
distant from  a  common  centre  shall  produce  a  mould, 
wherein  a  similar  atom  must  be  formed,  seems  untenable. 
But  since  the  whole  book  can  be  looked  upon  as  properly 
a  study  only,  therefore  "What  I  have  written  I  have 
written. ' ' 

58 


CHANGING    IDENTITIES 

the  purest  food  go  directly  from  the  stomach  into 
the  blood. 

If  we  trace  the  blood  of  animals  to  the  last 
source,  we  find  some  organ  which  takes  the  digested 
food  on  one  side  and  delivers  the  manufactured 
blood  on  the  other.  There  is,  then,  in  that  organ 
some  mysterious  process  going  on  which  makes  the 
final  change  from  the  old  identity  into  the  new. 

The  broken  up  food  that  comes  to  one  side  of 
that  organ  is  not  blood ;  the  blood  that  comes  forth 
on  the  other  side  is  not  broken  up  food,  but  vital 
blood.  Then,  how  far  goes  on  one  side  disor- 
ganization, and  where  starts  on  the  other  side  the 
building  up  process? 

The  organ  does  not  permit  the  passage  of  solid 
bodies  of  perceptible  size;  no  ordinary  liquid  sub- 
stance will  penetrate  it  as  a  whole  substance. 

The  balanced  ration  feeder  says  the  cow  must 
have  clover  hay  to  make  muscle ;  the  cow  will  pick 
out  timothy  every  time,  and  out  of  the  hydrocarbon 
manage  to  make  muscle  enough  to  throw  the  clover- 
fed  cow  over  the  fence. 

Humans  have  managed  for  years  to  live  on  air 
and  water  and  hydrocarbons,  and  no  chemist  would 
be  able  to  find  in  air,  food  and  water  one-tenth 
sufficient  quantity  of  some  of  the  elements  that 
these  humans  have  built  up  into  their  system  from 
these  things. 

The  maple  tree  has  formed  much  potassium  into 
its  body;  the  fir  tree  very  little;  but  the  soil  under 
the  maple,  after  furnishing  that  which  made  the 

59 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

potassium,  is  far  richer  in  potassium  than  is  the 
soil  under  the  fir  tree  which  has  furnished  so  little. 
Have  maple  and  fir  received  their  potassium  from 
the  air  ?  Evidently  not. 

Again,  the  brain  receives  impressions  through 
the  nerves,  and  these  impressions  are  built  up  into 
something  tangible  which  may  afterward,  at  any 
time,  reproduce  the  impression.  But  the  brain  that 
receives  impressions  and  the  brain  that  remembers 
impressions  is  the  same  material  brain,  and  the 
changes  in  it  are  material  changes. 

The  brain  gets  tired,  and  needs  time  to  rest ;  then 
it  must  be  built  up  of  particles  which  need  time 
to  organize  and  disorganize. 

But  it  is  evident  that  atoms  of  elements  do  not 
pass  through  our  eyes  into  the  brain  to  make  physi- 
cal alterations  there. 

Yet  undoubtedly  the  sunlight  does  make  material 
alterations  in  our  brain ;  then  it  must  be  void  mat- 
ter which  passes  through  eye  and  nerve  into  the 
brain. 

Again,  the  brain  transmits  force  to  the  hands; 
that  force  which  makes  the  muscles  of  the  hand 
perform  the  will  of  the  brain.  But  every  trans- 
mission of  force  from  one  body  to  another  is 
through  a  flow  of  material.  (Prop.  XVII,  B.  1.) 
Yet  organized  matter  cannot  flow  through  the 
nerves;  then  it  must  be  void  matter  which  is  dis- 
organized in  the  brain  and  organized  again  in  the 
hand  to  pull  that  valve  which  sets  the  muscles  to 
work. 

60 


CHANGING    IDENTITIES 

There  is  then  in  the  changes  going  on  in  the 
stomach,  nerve,  brain  and  muscle,  and  wherever  a 
new  living  identity  is  formed  a  total  breaking  up 
of  old  identities. 


PROPOSITION   XIX. 

Heat  is  necessary  in  the  reproduction  of  every 
living  identity. 

Because  we  know  no  substance  which  could  not 
be  made  colder;  therefore,  we  can  observe  very 
little  about  things  at  absolute  zero. 

But  we  know  grass- cannot  grow  at  zero,  neither 
can  a  chicken  be  hatched  from  an  egg  in  a  freezing 
mixture. 

Wherever  we  see  the  process  of  growth,  and 
growth  is  reproduction  and  birth,  we  see  these 
processes  taking  place  in  a  suitable  temperature. 
And  when  that  suitable  temperature  is  lacking,  one 
form  of  life  after  another  disappears. 

It  is  then  apparent  from  world-wide  experience 
that  life,  which  is  constantly  depending  on  the 
destruction  of  old  identity  and  the  building  up  of 
new  identities,  is  possible  only  at  certain  tem- 
peratures. And  every  form  of  life  has  its  own 
range  of  temperature  wherein  only  it  may  exist, 
and  that  range  is  very  limited.  What,  then,  is  the 
reason  for  this  well  known  fact  ? 

Let  it  be  granted  that  the  hypothesis  of  Prop. 
XVII,  B.  2,  is  correct.  Then  in  order  that  twelve 

61 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

parent  identities  may  arrange  themselves  around 
one  common  centre,  the  centre  of  force  of  every 
one  equidistant  from  the  common  centre,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  these  parent  identities  must  not  be  inter- 
locked. Therefore,  these  parent  identities  must  not 
be  in  a  solid  state.  (Prop.  VI,  B.  1.)  Neither 
must  the  temperature  be  high  enough  to  force  the 
parent  identities  far  apart,  for  then  twelve  parent 
identities  would  not  form  the  necessary  mould 
wherein  the  new  identity  must  needs  form.  There- 
fore, heat  is  necessary  in  the  reproduction  of  every 
living  identity. 

PROPOSITION   XX. 

All  living  identities  have  the  power  of  changing 
their  centre  of  force. 

The  grain  we  sow  does  not  turn  into  the  grain 
we  reap.  The  old  identity  must  be  destroyed,  and 
in  the  process  heat  is  necessary.  And  because  time 
is  necessary,  therefore,  the  grain  is  made  of  par- 
ticles which  decompose  one  by  one,  and  the  new 
plant  which  will  in  time  reproduce  the  old  grain 
is  built  up  one  particle  at  a  time. 

But  the  centre  of  force  of  that  grain  of  wheat 
we  sow  does  not  long  remain  the  centre  of  force  of 
the  growing  wheat  plant.  After  the  roots  are  fully 
formed  the  wheat  plant  keeps  on  growing. 

There  is,  then,  in  growing  and  consequently  in 
the  birth  of  new  identities  an  element  of  distance, 

62 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 

a  change  of  space  occupied,  and,  therefore,  a  shift- 
ing of  the  common  centre. 

It  may  seem  that  animals  retain  their  centre  of 
force,  yet  a  closer  investigation  proves  that  even 
animals  do  not  grow  equally  in  all  directions. 

But  neither  wheat  stalk  nor  animal  grows  by 
the  addition  of  solid  particles  on  the  outside  of  the 
solid  particles  already  in  place. 

Everything  we  see  growing  has  on  the  outside  an 
envelope  of  more  or  less  solid  material.  And  some- 
where within  that  solid  envelope  there  are  tubes 
for  carrying  liquid  substance,  which  in  some  organ 
of  the  living  identity  are  transformed  into  iden- 
tical substance. 

The  nails  on  the  fingers  do  not  grow  on  that  end 
we  continually  cut  off,  but  they  are  pushed  out 
from  the  quick.  So  it  seems  to  be  with  all  growth. 
But  how  is  this  done  ? 

Again,  let  it  be  granted  that  Prop.  XVII,  B.  2,  is 
correct.  And  let  it  be  remembered  that  through- 
out all  the  Universe  matter  is  continuous.  (Prop. 
I,  B.  1.) 

And  the  shifting  of  primary  spheres  of  void  mat- 
ter requires  no  force. 

But  void  matter  organized  into  material  sub- 
stance occupies  less  room  in  the  Universe  than  it 
did  before,  and,  therefore,  the  tremendous  force 
displayed  in  growth  is  not  the  result  of  new  iden- 
tities organizing,  but  of  the  old  identities  disor- 
ganizing, and  thereby  requiring  more  room. 

For  everywhere  the  birth  of  a  new  identity  is 
63 


MECHANISM  -OF    NATURE 

the  necessary  result  of  the  death  of  an  old  iden- 
tity, and  everywhere  the  material  of  the  dying 
identity  by  occupying  more  room  pushes  out  the 
limits  of  the  new  identity. 

And  the  twelve  parent  identities  that  have  within 
them  formed  a  new  identity  constitute  now  (the 
thirteen  together)  one  of  twelve  larger  identities 
which  shall  in  turn  give  birth  to  a  new  larger 
identity. 

Does  this  apply  only  to  atoms  and  molecules? 
Evidently  not. 

For  in  ever  widening  circles  the  processes  of 
growth  are  repeated,  and  the  most  complex  iden- 
tity, the  living  human  body,  grows  as  other  iden- 
tities grow,  and  these  identical  hands  are  the  prod- 
ucts of  those  atoms  that  organized  from  the  pri- 
mary spheres  of  void  matter. 

Because  this  grain  of  wheat  will  grow  into  a 
wheat  stalk  and  the  wheat  stalk  will  reproduce  the 
grain  of  wheat,  therefore,  within  this  grain  of 
wheat  lies  that  capability  of  organizing  the  new 
wheat  stalk  and  the  new  grain  of  wheat. 

And  because  no  force  is  inherent  in  matter 
(Prop.  XII,  B.  1),  therefore,  the  grain  of  wheat 
we  sow  can  only  mould  through  the  agency  of 
universal  force  the  universal  matter  into  its  own 
form.  And  there  must  be  within  that  grain  of 
wheat  a  material  organization  of  particles,  such 
that  both  new  wheat  stalk  and  head  and  new 
grain  must  needs  be  moulded  from  those  old  iden- 
tities that  shall  perish  to  build  up  the  new. 

64 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 

And  the  power  of  changing  the  centre  of  force 
must  lie  in  that  grain  we  sow  when  nature  shall 
supply  that  which  is  needed  for  the  new  growth. 


PROPOSITION   XXI. 

Every  living  identity  has  the  power  to  appro- 
priate universal  material  in  proportion  to  the  mass 
constituting  the  living  identity. 

"Unto  him  that  hath  shall  be  given. "  All  the 
world  testifies  to  the  truth  of  this. 

And  if  our  hearts  rebel  against  it,  yet  victory  is 
to  the  strong  and  the  garlands  of  the  conqueror 
are  woven  with  the  heart-strings  of  the  vanquished. 

The  vigorous  plant  shall  withstand  the  drought ; 
the  weaker  ones  that  perish  under  it  shall  feed  the 
overtopping. 

From  the  feeble  plant  shall  be  taken  the  little  it 
has,  for  the  hot  winds  shall  dry  it  and  the  parasite 
shall  sap  the  feeble  life. 

And  this  is  growth,  for  the  plus  of  life  necessi- 
tates the  minus  of  death,  and  plus  and  minus  shall 
be  to  us  a  stumbling  block  forever  in  the  algebra 
of  creation. 

Not  as  a  moral  law,  but  as  a  mechanical  neces- 
sity, all  things  grow  from  things  that  are  de- 
stroyed. 

And  because  every  living  identity  is  not  a  pri- 
mary identity,  but  an  identity  built  up  of  many 
primary  spheres,  therefore,  that  life  which  was 

65 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

bestowed  on  the  young,  small  plant  or  animal  must 
be  extended  to  every  primary  sphere  added  in 
growth. 

Then  is  life  a  primary  identity?  Surely  not. 
For  a  primary  identity  cannot  grow  and  extend ; 
it  can  only  unite  with  other  identities.  (Demon- 
stration, Prop.  XVII,  B.  2.)  Life  and  death  re- 
quire time.  (Prop.  XV,  B.  2.)  Life  and  death 
must  be  confined  to  space  and  distance.  (Prop. 
XX,  B.  2.)  Life  and  death  are  proportionate  to 
the  mass  of  the  dying  and  of  the  living  identities. 

Then,  life  is  but  a  manifestation  of  the  one  whole 
universal  force,  which  shall  form  a  cedar  tree  in 
the  mould  supplied  by  one  seed,  and  forms  the  cab- 
bage in  the  mould  supplied  by  another  seed.  Is 
that  cedar  tree  contained  in  that  seed?  No.  For 
the  seed  weighed  less  than  one  grain,  and  the  tree 
weighs  more  than  a  ton.  Was  the  life  of  that 
cedar  tree  contained  in  that  seed?  No.  For  the 
tree  has  produced  a  million  seeds,  each  one  of 
which  had  just  as  much  life  as  the  parent  seed. 

The  tiny  seed  was  directly  in  contact  with  few 
other  living  identities,  and  with  few  primary 
spheres  of  void  matter,  the  tree  has  broadened  out 
that  contact  a  millionfold. 

Then,  shall  the  great  tree  lay  hold,  with  unnum- 
bered subordinate  identities  in  its  own  proper  iden- 
tity, on  that  which  builds  up  its  mass  and  its  life? 
But  that  also  which  causes  death  and  dismember- 
ment shall  lay  hold  on  him  at  innumerable  points. 

"Unto  him  that  hath  shall  be  given,"  and  that 
66 


CHANGING    IDENTITIES 

which  is  given  him  shall  come  into  his  life,  and 
unto  death. 

PROPOSITION   XXII. 

In  the  reproduction  of  living  identities  by  the 
co-operation  of  two  sexes,  each  sex  contributes  a 
part  to  form  that  mould,  wherein  the  new  identity 
must  needs  be  formed  by  universal  force  of  uni- 
versal matter. 

All  animals  are  either  male  or  female,  and  their 
offspring  are  the  product  of  both. 

In  many  plants  we  can  clearly  observe  two  sexes. 
Yet  female  and  male  are  similar  identities. 

"Bone  of  my  bone  and  flesh  of  my  flesh,"  said 
Adam  of  Eve. 

Many  plants  have  both  male  and  female  blossoms 
on  the  same  stalk  and  even  in  the  same  blossom. 

And,  then  again,  it  seems  impossible  to  observe 
sexuality  in  some  plants,  and  we  say  that  they 
grow  from  the  roots  or  slips. 

And  a  great  many  plants  will  grow  from  seeds 
which  are  the  product  of  two  sexes,  and  also  from 
root  or  slip.  And  in  either  case  the  identical  plant 
will  be  reproduced. 

It  is  evident  that  the  new  identity  cannot  be  a 
primary  identity,  because  two  sexes  have  pro- 
duced it  and  a  primary  identity  cannot  consist  of 
two  halves. 

And,  because  this  new  identity,  which  is  the 
product  of  two  sexes,  will  again,  in  the  future, 

67 


MECHANISM   OF   NATURE 

contribute  its  part  to  two  new  identities,  of  whom 
one  shall  belong  to  each  sex;  therefore,  sex  does 
not  constitute  a  separate  identity. 

But  let  it  be  granted  that  the  old  hypothesis  is 
true,  namely:  that  that  seed  which  produces  the 
new  identity  is  contained  in  the  male  and  that  the 
female  only  supplies  that  material  and  the  environ- 
ments that  are  necessary  to  grow  the  seed  into  the 
new  identity. 

And,  let  it  be  granted  also,  that  the  other  hy- 
pothesis is  true,  namely:  that  identical  life  is  a 
primary  identity. 

Then,  the  whole  life  of  the  future  new  identity 
is  contained  in  that  male  seed,  or  else  supplied 
from  the  outside  of  both  male  and  female,  and 
that  life  can,  therefore,  not  be  affected,  altered, 
modified  or  diversified  by  the  female  that  supplies 
only  raw  material  to  the  growing  identity.  (Hy- 
pothesis.) But  this  is  absurd;  for  everywhere  we 
observe  hereditary  traits  descend  from  both  male 
and  female. 

And  equally  absurd  it  is  to  claim  that  the  life 
of  a  cow  has  no  reference  to  the  life  of  her  calf; 
for,  in  that  case,  there  need  be  no  similarity  what- 
ever between  cow  and  calf,  for  life  is  that  power 
possessed  by  every  living  identity,  which  enables 
it  to  arrange  the  matter  of  the  Universe  into  its 
own  form.  (Prop.  XIV,  B.  2.)  Again,  because 
life  is  a  primary  identity,  and  contained  in  the 
male  seed  (Hypothesis)  ;  therefore,  in  the  first 
male,  there  must  have  resided,  beside  his  own 

68 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 

proper  life,  the  life  of  every  one  of  his  descendants 
that  lives  or  ever  shall  live.  (Hypothesis.) 

Then,  have  all  those  lives  been  asleep  ?  Is  that 
which  is  to  animate  dead  material  itself  capable 
to  exist  in  perfect  negation? 

It  is  absurd  to  attribute  to  these  ready-made 
lives,  either  the  power  to  exist  without  manifesta- 
tion or  the  capability  to  grow  with  our  growth  and 
strengthen  with  our  strength. 

Because,  all  life  is  interwoven  with  that  material, 
which  through  that  life  constitutes  a  living 
identity. 

Therefore,  the  extension  of  that  life  to  a  new 
identity  from  two  parent  identities  involves  the 
production  of  a  mould  wherein  universal  force 
must  form  the  new  identity. 

And  both  sexes  can  contribute  to  that  mould  and 
both  sexes  may  be  equally  necessary. 

And  the  new  identity  must  needs  be  similar  to 
both  parents,  as  far  as  they  are  similar,  and  that 
similar  form  must  be  affected  by  universal  force, 
even  as  the  parent  forms  were  affected;  therefore, 
the  life  also  shall  be  similar. 

PROPOSITION   XXIII. 

Every  living  identity  is  a  compound  of  lesser 
identities. 

Because,  all  substances  are  built  up  of  primary 
spheres  (Prop.  XIX,  B.  1)  ;  therefore,  every  living 
identity  is  a  compound  of  primary  identities.  Be- 

69 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

cause,  every  living  identity  can  be  divided  and 
every  higher  identity  can  be  separated  into  organs 
that  together  make  up  the  whole;  therefore,  that 
whole  is  not  a  primary  identity. 

The  human  body  has  many  fibers  and  each  fiber 
consists  of  many  atoms,  yet  the  human  body  may 
be  dismembered  and  every  fiber  disorganized,  and 
yet  leave  the  identity  of  the  atoms  unimpaired. 

Our  teeth,  which  belong  to  our  own  proper  iden- 
tity, may  be  extracted,  one  by  one,  and  transferred 
into  the  identities  of  others. 

Modern  surgery  has  substituted  or  transferred 
many  parts  of  the  human  body,  and  brain  and 
heart  have  been  fixed  up  again,  after  terrible  in- 
jury. 

Then,  it  is  evident  that  a  subordinate  identity 
within  a  higher  identity  may  be  destroyed  without 
destroying  the  higher  identity,  and  the  higher 
identity  may  be  disorganized  without  destroying 
the  lesser  identity  within  it. 

And  that  which  binds  all  subordinate  identities 
together  in  one  higher  identity  is  the  life  of  that 
higher  identity,  and  its  growth  is  the  multiplica- 
tion and  the  growth  of  lesser  identities,  and  the 
reproduction  of  the  higher  identity  is  the  bring- 
ing together  of  similar  subordinate  identities  into 
a  similar  higher  identity. 

Then  it  is  evident  that  the  life  of  the  subordinate 
identity  is  as  truly  life  as  is  the  life  of  the  higher 
identity  until  the  subdivision  shall  arrive  at  pri- 
mary identity. 

70 


CHANGING    IDENTITIES 


PROPOSITION    XXIV. 

Identical  life  is  the  necessary  result  of  identical 
form. 

Any  force  acting  upon  four  primary  spheres  in 
closest  possible  contact  as  one  atom  must  needs 
act  the  same  way  on  four  other  primary  spheres 
held  together  in  a  similar  atom.  And  this  is  equally 
true  of  any  other  atom  or  form  composed  of  many 
atoms. 

If  not,  let  it  be  otherwise,  and  let  atom  or  com- 
bination of  atoms  have  power  to  verify  a  force 
acting  upon  it. 

Then  a  substance  (charcoal,  for  instance),  under 
the  action  of  a  force  (heat,  for  instance),  may  or 
may  not  become  incandescent,  or  it  may  become 
magnetic  or  lessened  in  weight.  (Hypothesis.) 

But  that  is  absurd,  for  all  our  knowledge  is 
based  upon  the  certain  results  that  certain  actions 
will  invariably  produce,  and  when  the  same  cause 
fails  to  produce  the  same  effect  upon  the  same  ma- 
terial, we  shall  be  utterly  lost  in  all  the  affairs  of 
ordinary  life. 

So  intimate  are  life  and  the  material  form  that 
exhibits  life,  that  we  must  go  outside  of  all  our 
experience  and  beyond  our  finite  circle  of  reason- 
ing to  imagine  a  life  without  material  form.  An 
identical  form  cannot  be  a  primary  identity  un- 
less it  is  a  primary  sphere. 

71 


MECHANISM   OF   NATURE 

Identical  life  of  an  identical  form  cannot  be  a 
primary  identity,  because  it  is  reproduced  and 
grows  with  the  growth  of  the  identical  form. 

Is  there  a  similar  life  made  for  every  similar 
form? 

Do  these  lives  lie  around  waiting  for  a  form  that 
fits  them? 

Surely  not,  for  life  must  reproduce  the  form,  and 
form  must  reproduce  the  life. 

Therefore,  identical  life  is  the  necessary  result 
of  identical  form. 


PROPOSITION   XXV. 

Everything  we  can  directly  perceive  is  a  living 
identity  or  a  compound  of  living  identities. 

There  is  evidently  a  vast  difference  between  the 
sun  we  can  directly  perceive  and  the  material 
which  lies  between  us  and  the  sun. 

Because,  sun  and  earth  and  planets  have  regular 
orbits,  which  we  can  compute;  therefore,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  universal  force,  both  in  the  manifesta- 
tion of  imparted  momentum  and  in  restraining 
gravity,  works  entirely  different  on  the  great  num- 
ber of  primary  spheres  which  intervene  between  the 
heavenly  bodies  and  themselves. 

But  all  bodies  are  composed  of  primary  spheres 
(Prop.  XIX,  B.  1),  and  the  same  force  cannot 
make  a  different  change  in  similar  material  if 

72 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 

everything  pertaining  to  that  material  is  also  simi- 
lar.    (Prop.  XVIII,  B.  1.) 

Therefore,  the  difference  between  force,  act- 
ing on  void  matter,  and  force  acting  on  organized 
matter,  is  the  result  of  difference  between  the  two. 
And  since  organized  matter  and  void  matter  are 
alike  composed  of  primary  spheres,  the  difference 
between  them  must  consist  in  the  organization 
which  holds  together  the  primary  spheres  constitut- 
ing material  substance  in  the  fixed  regularity  of  a 
peculiar,  stable  identical  form. 

And  that  which  compels  the  organization  is  life. 
And  that  life  is  not  inherent  in  matter  (Prop.  XI, 
B.  1).  Neither  is  that  life  a  primary  identity, 
'for  the  life  extends  and  grows  with  the  growing 
form,  and  is  the  necessary  result  of  that  form. 

Therefore,  everything  which  has  organization,  or 
form,  is  endowed  with  life,  and  when  that  life  is 
withdrawn  the  material  that  composed  the  form 
must  return  whence  it  came. 

Then,  if  the  simplest  form  of  organization,  the 
atom,  has  an  identical  life  because  of  its  identical 
organization,  the  human  body  also  must  have  an 
identical  life  because  of  its  identical  organization. 

But  the  organization  of  the  atom  does  not  em- 
brace the  organization  of  the  human  body,  for  that 
is  composed  of  innumerable  atoms.  And,  as  the 
organization  of  the  human  body  is  more  complex 
and  higher  than  that  of  the  atom,  so  is  the  life  of 
the  human  body  higher  than  the  life  of  the  atom. 
Yet  in  each  is  life. 

73 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 


PROPOSITION    XXVI. 

The  environments  of  living  identities  are  them- 
selves the  result  of  change  in  living  identities,  and 
all  environments  were  an  effect  before  they  could 
become  a  cause. 

Any  life  that  we  perceive  is  manifested  through 
some  identical  material  form,  and  no  two  forms 
which  are  not  similar  ever  exhibit  similar  life, 
either  in  growth  or  requirements  for  growth. 

We  observe  a  universal  force,  which  is  one  whole 
force,  and  universal  matter  which  is  one  continu- 
ous mass  of  particles  everywhere  touching  one  an- 
other. 

And,  because  one  particle  cannot  occupy  the 
space  occupied  by  another,  therefore,  there  is  not 
room  in  the  Universe  for  another  primary  sphere, 
unless  the  spaces  between  the  primary  spheres  can 
be  lessened. 

But  these  spaces  cannot  be  lessened  save  only 
by  arranging  the  primary  spheres  into  the  form 
of  atoms  of  elements  and  molecules  as  compound 
atoms.  (Prop.  XX,  B.  1.) 

Because,  if  in  one  layer  of  primary  spheres 
every  sphere  is  brought  into  the  closest  possible 
contact  by  some  force,  another  layer  adjoining  it 
will  thereby  be  thrown  out  of  the  closest  possible 
contact.  (Ocular  Demonstration.) 

And,  it  is  therefore  evident,  that  any  accidental 
bringing  together  of  primary  spheres  into  the  form 

74 


CHANGING    IDENTITIES 

of  atoms  and  their  multiples  (in  closest  contact) 
is  not  possible  where  force  or  pressure  is  uniform 
on  every  sphere  as  it  is  on  the  void  matter  of  the 
Universe. 

There  is  an  inequality  required  (Prop.  XVIII, 
B.  1)  ;  and  all  universal  force  brought  to  bear  on  a 
Universe  full  of  primary  spheres  cannot  produce 
any  change  in  their  relative  position. 

Neither  can  all  the  universal  force  produce  a 
change  in  a  Universe  filled  partly  with  primary 
spheres  and  all  the  remaining  part  with  organized 
forms,  for,  in  that  case,  the  Universe  is  still  full. 

Somewhere  there  must  be  inequality  in  the  Uni- 
verse; somewhere  there  must  be  an  outside  to  the 
eternal  circle  of  cause  and  effect. 

The  infinite  beyond  this  circle  is  not  an  object  of 
human  reason,  but  within  that  circle  everything  is 
subject  to  human  reasoning,  and,  therefore,  it  is 
possible  to  learn  the  reason  for  every  change  in 
material  brought  about  by  universal  force. 

Everywhere  our  science  notes  an  exact  equiva- 
lent between  that  which  dies  and  that  which  is 
born. 

In  all  the  chemistry  of  nature,  there  is  not  one 
atom  gained  or  lost,  as  far  as  we  can  observe.  It 
is  impossible  to  make  one  additional  new  atom 
out  of  primary  spheres,  for  that  necessitates  the 
disorganization  of  a  corresponding  or  similar  atom ; 
if  not,  there  would  be  an  empty  place  in  the  Uni- 
verse, or  some  primary  spheres  that  are  in  closest 
contact  would  be  placed  at  right  angles. 

75 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

Everywhere  we  see  effect  follow  cause  and  the 
effect  become  the  cause  to  another  effect,  until 
every  cause  is  an  effect  and  every  effect  is  a  cause. 

Could  the  sun  give  light  by  disorganization  be- 
fore it  was  organized  ?  Surely  not,  any  more  than 
a  chip  can  burn  before  it  is  a  chip. 

When  the  Universe  was  void,  that  is,  when  it 
was  filled  with  primary  spheres  that  were  each  in- 
dependent of  the  other,  there  were  no  environ- 
ments, and  no  primary  sphere  could  exert  any  influ- 
ence on  any  other  primary  sphere,  let  the  pressure 
on  it  be  ever  so  great,  for  every  influence  consists 
of  pressure  on  one  side  and  yielding  on  the  other. 

All  the  innumerable  primary  spheres  of  the  Uni- 
verse move  without  the  slightest  resistance  when 
there  is  pressure  on  one  side  and  yielding  on  the 
other;  all  the  force  of  the  Universe  cannot  make 
them  yield  if  applied  equally  from  two  opposite 
sides. 

This  is  the  great  fruit  of  Newton's  labor,  that 
our  science  has  been  able  to  realize  that  in  this  Uni- 
verse nothing  can  be  either  gained  or  lost,  that  as 
far  as  our  circle  of  reasoning  goes,  both  material 
and  force  are  everlasting  and  incapable  of  increase 
or  decrease. 

But  equally  all  the  Universe  cannot,  of  its  own 
self,  go  beyond  itself  or  make  one  change  which  is 
not  the  result  of  a  former  change,  or  produce  one 
form  without  a  mould  to  produce  it  in. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  the  Universe  was  first 
created  "void  and  without  form,"  and  that  en- 

76 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 

vironments  were  the  cause  of  organism  (or  ma- 
terial substance). 

And,  let  it  be  granted  that  the  primary  spheres 
were  in  as  close  contact  as  the  whole  mass  could  be. 
(Prop.  I,  B.  1.) 

Then  not  one  of  them  could  be  made  to  change 
position  by  any  pressure  whatever,  for  any  pres- 
sure would  be  equally  on  all.  There  could  be 
neither  motion,  environment,  nor  anything  else  but 
a  Universe  full  of  primary  spheres. 

But,  let  it  be  granted  that  the  Universe  was  not 
full  of  primary  spheres  at  creation,  and  that  a 
pressure,  acting  on  one  primary  sphere,  was  com- 
municated to  other  primary  spheres  successively, 
producing  forms  accidentally. 

Then  the  production  of  forms  from  primary 
spheres  multiplied  the  empty  space  or  spaces  and 
thereby  made  more  room  for  further  interchange 
and  organization,  and  the  necessity  of  equal  ef- 
fect from  equal  cause  is  done  away  with,  and  ever 
increasing  environment  compels  ever  increasing  or- 
ganization. 

Or,  let  it  be  granted  that  the  Universe  is  eternal, 
then  every  change  is  caused  by  a  former  change 
and  every  new  form  is  cast  in  the  mould  of  an  old 
form. 

Or,  again,  let  it  be  granted  that  the  Mosaic  con- 
ception is  correct.  Then  the  creation  of  void  mat- 
ter is  a  distinct  act;  the  creation  of  force  another 
distinct  act;  and  the  organization  of  living  identi- 
ties another.  And  the  setting  apart  the  division  of 

77 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

the  void  from  that  which  has  form  is  an  act  of 
creation;  and  life,  the  crowning  glory,  is  not  the 
result  of  environment,  but  the  cause. 

PROPOSITION   XXVII. 

Universal  life  is  manifested  through  an  inter- 
change of  material,  and  every  manifestation  of 
force  is  a  mechanical  displacement  of  material 
parts. 

Clearly  life  is  a  manifestation  of  universal  force, 
derived  from  the  infinite  primary  cause,  and  com- 
pelling organization  into  identical  forms. 

Therefore,  we  cannot  perceive  life  as  a  principle, 
as  one  whole.  But  identical  lives  are  exhibited  all 
around  us,  and  many  of  the  changes  in  living 
identities  we  can  observe. 

And  the  knowledge  of  these  changes  constitutes 
science,  and  if  there  can  be  any  changes  in  living 
identities  which  are  not  material  changes,  true  sci- 
ence has  nothing  to  do  with  them.  (Axiom  1.) 

And  the  ability  to  provoke  and  control  changes 
constitutes  our  art,  and  the  finding  of  new  means 
to  induce  desired  effects  constitutes  our  inven- 
tion. 

Yet,  in  all  the  affairs  of  life,  we  are  dependent 
on  material,  and  all  progress  is  an  acquirement  of 
greater  knowledge  about  material  changes. 

Any  link  of  the  infinite  chain  of  universal  force 
may  be  perceived,  because  of  its  separate  identity, 

78 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 

but  only  in  its  relation  with,  other  primary  identi- 
ties can  we  perceive  any  primary  identity,  for 
change  only  we  can  perceive,  and  change  is  im- 
possible in  one  only  primary  identity. 

We  can  know  life  only  through  living  identi- 
ties, and  these  are  forms. 

Here  is  a  piece  of  granite,  and  yonder  goes  a 
horse.  Horse  and  granite  alike  are  composed  of 
primary  spheres,  and  whatever  life  each  has  is  the 
product  of  the  same  universal  force  -exerted  on  pri- 
mary spheres  that  are  exactly  alike  in  every  re- 
spect. 

The  same  force,  working  through  the  same  ma- 
terial, yet  produces  the  endless  variations  of  uni- 
versal life,  because  of  an  endless  variety  of  organ- 
ized forms. 

Then,  in  that  trinity  of  force,  material  and  or- 
ganization can  either  be  subordinate  or  greater. 

All  the  force  we  can  know  is  exhibited  through 
matter.  All  the  matter  we  can  know  is  manifested 
through  force.  Force  and  matter  alike  are  brought 
into  our  perception  only  through  materia"  forms. 

In  all  the  endless  revolutions  of  force  and  matter, 
not  one  particle  of  either  one  can  be  lost,  nor  can 
there  be  any  gain ;  neither  can  all  the  Universe 
produce  a  new  form  nor  lose  an  old  one. 

Change  is  not  a  limitless  haphazard,  for  every 
change  is  the  inevitable  result  of  a  former  change, 
and  if  any  act  of  ours  can  produce  an  effect,  it  is 
because  we  can,  by  a  certain  voluntary  change  in 
ourselves,  set  in  motion  an  infinite  number  of 

79 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

changes,  the  most  immediate  of  which  we  can  cal- 
culate and  observe. 

But  there  is  order  in  the  Universe;  because  the 
number  of  material  forms  is  a  finite  fixed  number, 
and  because  of  that,  there  can  be  no  new  manifesta- 
tion of  force. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  the  Universe  can  produce 
a  new  form. 

Then  the  Universe  is  able  to  produce  an  infinite 
number  of  new  forms,  and  these  new  forms  must 
produce  new  environments  to  alter  every  old  form. 
(Hypothesis.) 

And  no  natural  law  can  be  universal  in  applica- 
tion— yesterday,  to-day  and  to-morrow — for  at 
midnight  evolution  gave  birth  to  something  that 
upset  the  whole  arrangement.  (Hypothesis.)  Sev- 
en undivided  identities  cannot  produce  a  cube; 
neither  can  a  square  be  made  of  equilateral  tri- 
angles or  circles. 

Primary  spheres  cannot  be  built  up  in  an  endless 
variety  of  atoms,  for  there  is  a  limit  to  the  number 
that  can  be  each  to  two  others  in  closest  contact. 

There  is  a  harmony  of  sounds  as  certain  as  the 
increase  of  squares ;  there  is  a  law  of  colors  as  cer- 
tain as  the  law  of  forms;  because,  both  sound  and 
colors  are  the  certain,  inevitable  product  of  one 
whole  force,  through  certain  material  forms. 

Truth  and  beauty  are  not  creatures  of  popular 
opinion,  and  all  the  courts  may  not  change  a  funda- 
mental law  of  our  being. 

Inseparably,  force  and  matter  and  living  identity 
80 


CHANGING   IDENTITIES 

are  linked  together,  and  any  attempt  to  study  or 
perceive  any  one  without  the  two  others  is  an  utter 
failure. 

Therefore,  all  life  is  manifested  through  an  in- 
terchange of  material,  and  every  manifestation  of 
force  is  a  mechanical  displacement  of  material 
parts. 


81 


BOOK  III 


83 


And  Moses  said,  I  will  now  turn  aside,  and  see 
this  great  sight,  why  the  bush  is  not  burnt. — Exo- 
dus, 3 :3. 


84 


PROPOSITION   I. 

Force  can  act  only  between  organized  bodies  of 
material. 

To  every  action  there  is  a  reaction. 

If  we  lift  a  hundred-pound  weight,  our  feet  press 
the  ground  with  a  hundred  pounds  additional  pres- 
sure. The  engine  must  be  bolted  to  the  floor  to 
turn  the  shaft.  When  a  boy  throws  a  rock  he 
kicks  the  earth  with  his  feet,  and  this  may  easily 
be  verified  on  a  scale.  The  force  that  propelled  the 
rock  came  into  play  between  the  boy  and  the  rock ; 
the  boy  had  to  stand  on  something  that  did  not 
give  way.  And  so,  in  every  manifestation  of  force, 
we  may  perceive,  we  must  needs  have  two  identities 
perceptible  directly  to  our  senses.  The  great  mass 
of  void  matter  contained  in  the  Universe  cannot  be 
the  stable  background  from  which  force  may  act 
or  react  upon,  because  every  primary  sphere  of 
void  matter  in  the  Universe  can  freely  move  out  of 
its  place  without  hindrance ;  and  no  change  of  posi- 
tion of  any  organized  body  floating  in  that  great 
sea  of  unresisting  primary  spheres  will  make  either 
more  or  less  room  in  the  Universe.  Neither  can 
the  bodies,  moving  in  unresisting  primary  spheres, 
act  as  a  stable  base  for  the  action  of  force,  unless 
85 


MECHANISM    OF    NATUEE 

something  holds  them  together  in  a  fixed  relative 
position.  Therefore,  whether  we  consider  the  boy 
that  throws  the  rock  as  one  with  the  earth,  and  stop 
tracing  the  manifestation  any  farther  in  the  reac- 
tion, or  carry  on  both  action  and  reaction  infinitely, 
in  every  separate,  identical  manifestation  of  force, 
we  must  have  two  identities. 

And  this  organization  that  constitutes  identities 
is  ever  necessary  for  our  perception  of  force. 
Where  bodies  are  held  together  by  the  interlocking 
of  their  atoms  we  must  have  a  life  that  holds  the 
atoms  together,  and  in  higher  degrees  of  identities 
a  higher  degree  of  life.  Where  bodies  are  sepa- 
rated by  primary  spheres  of  void  matter,  we  must 
have  gravity  to  bind  them  together  before  we  can 
perceive  heat,  light  or  any  other  manifestation  of 
force. 

Therefore,  force  must  organize  and  hold  matter 
in  two  distinct  material  identities  before  we  may 
perceive  the  action  of  force  between  them. 


PROPOSITION   II. 

Every  action  of  Force  consists  in  the  pushing  of 
some  material;  it  is  a  pressure,  and  never  really 
an  attraction. 

A  suction  pump  depends  on  the  pressure  of  the 
atmosphere  for  its  action.  The  rope  that  pulls  the 
log  is  one  with  the  log  and  with  the  motive  power. 
But  somewhere  in  the  machine  or  the  horse  can  be 

86 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

found  that  displacement  of  material  which  is  the 
real  source  of  power,  and  in  the  last  instance  it  is 
ever  a  crowding  of  material  particles  for  room.  If 
it  be  possible,  let  it  be  otherwise,  and  let  that  which 
gives  the  power  be  an  attraction  of  one  material 
for  another,  such  as  magnetism  is  often  deemed 
to  be.  (Hypothesis.) 

Then,  because  the  force  is  an  attraction  be- 
tween the  magnet  and  the  armature,  the  interven- 
ing material  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  (Hypothe- 
sis.) 

But  that  is  impossible.  (Axiom  2.  Prop.  XI, 
B.  1.)  And  because  the  magnet  attracts  without 
being  itself  altered,  therefore  the  force  is  inherent 
in  the  magnet.  (Hypothesis.)  Then  we  can,  with 
the  aid  of  one  magnet,  make  an  unlimited  amount 
of  inherent  attraction  in  material  that  does  not  yet 
possess  it  (tempered  steel).  (Hypothesis.)  Where 
then,  is  the  attraction,  now,  that  with  a  few  strokes 
of  the  magnet  may  be  imparted  to  any  jackknife? 

This  attraction  of  the  magnet  or  any  other  at- 
traction or  drawing  or  contraction  is  apparent 
only,  something  somewhere  must  press  and  push; 
otherwise,  that  attraction  is  an  occult  attraction, 
outside  of  human  reasoning  and  observation. 

Therefore,  the  very  word,  "  attraction, "  is  mis- 
chievous and  misleading,  and  in  the  investigation 
of  any  manifestation  of  force  that  material,  which 
by  expanding  is  made  to  require  more  room,  ought 
to  be  considered.  And,  somewhere  back  of  every 
force  is  such  material,  and  back  of  that  material 

87 


MECHANISM   OF   NATURE 

more  material,  to  the  infinite  circle  of  material, 
moved  to  infinite  change,  by  infinite  life. 


PROPOSITION   III. 

Every  display  of  force  requires  pushing  on  one 
side  and  yielding  on  the  other  side. 

Force  cannot  be  transmitted  from  one  body  to 
another  body,  when  the  two  are  in  all  re- 
spects equal.  (Prop.  XVIII,  B.  1.)  The  irre- 
sistible force,  pressing  against  the  immovable  post, 
will  not  produce  action  on  manifestation  until  the 
post  ceases  to  be  irresistible.  When  the  steam  is 
turned  on  equally  on  both  sides  of  the  piston,  the 
piston  will  not  move,  be  the  pressure  ever  so  great. 

Therefore,  every  action  of  force  depends,  in  du- 
ration and  intensity,  on  one  body  pushing  and  an- 
other yielding. 


PROPOSITION   IV. 

Force  is  irresistible  and  instantaneous. 

We  speak  of  strength  and  weakness  and  measure 
our  motive  power  in  quantity  and  intensity.  And 
often  we  forget  that  strong  and  weak  alike  are  in- 
separable links  of  one  whole  chain;  and,  because 
we  cannot  readily  trace  the  connection  of  one  iden- 
tity with  the  whole  Universe,  that  identity  is  in- 

88 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

vested  with  a  mysterious  and  often  with  an  occult 
individuality. 

And  often  we  ascribe  to  an  identical  manifesta- 
tion of  force,  like  electricity,  a  nature  apart  from 
Mother  Nature,  and  in  the  name  of  electricity  think 
ourselves  able  to  move  Mountains,  or  manufacture 
identical  life. 

Whenever  we  fail  to  see  the  connection  between 
an  identical  act  of  force  and  the  whole  universal 
force,  there  is  surely  not  an  upsetting  of  universal 
truth,  but  merely  an  example  of  our  ignorance. 

But  the  Frog  that  kicks  the  water  with  his  hind 
legs,  shall  he  not  exert  his  influence  upon  the  Morn- 
ing Star? 

Even  as  the  Star,  the  Frog  is  surrounded  by  the 
infinite  Congregation  of  Primary  Spheres,  each  one 
of  whom  is  in  direct  communication  with  every 
other  Primary  Sphere,  and  not  one  of  which  can 
move  until  a  new  space  is  provided  for  it.  Then 
is  every  action  of  force  at  last  resolved  into  a  move- 
ment of  Primary  Spheres.  And  the  question  of 
intensity  and  duration,  or  distance  of  movement,  is 
not  a  question  of  the  speed  and  strength  of  force. 
But  the  real  question  is,  "How  many  identities 
shall  participate  in  the  movement;  how  far  shall 
this  row  of  Primary  Spheres  go  this  way,  and  how 
far  the  other  row  in  yonder  direction,  before  some 
change  in  some  living  identity  shall  produce  a  con- 
trary movement  ? ' '  Force  is  infinite  in  extent.  No- 
where in  the  Universe  can  there  be  a  place  where 
force  is  not.  And  material,  likewise,  is  everywhere 

89 


MECHANISM   OF   NATURE 

present.  (Prop.  I,  B.  1.)  Then  can  force,  infinite 
in  one  respect,  be  limited  in  another  respect  ?  And 
what  shall  impose  the  limit  upon  it? 

And  a  Primary  Sphere  is  incapable  of  change, 
except  that  it  may  change  its  relative  and  its  abso- 
lute position.  Then  it  must  either  move  or  not 
move,  but  the  must  is  an  absolute  compulsion. 
Neither  can  the  action  of  force  be  delayed  or  pro- 
longed, for  a  Primary  Sphere  may  not  stop  to  ar- 
gue the  point  or  yield  a  reluctant  obedience. 

Then,  if  manifestations  of  force  require  time,  it 
is  because  every  manifestation  works  through 
identities  that  are  composed  of  particles  which  must 
change,  one  by  one.  And  if  one  manifestation  of 
force  is  weak  and  another  is  strong,  we  must 
look  to  those  identities  that  are  concerned  in  the 
manifestation  for  the  reason. 

In  old  mythologies  one  Deity  is  stronger  than 
another.  They  divide  heaven  and  earth  into  prov- 
inces between  themselves. 

Are  forces  likewise  identical  in  their  own  nature, 
one  stronger  and  another  weaker,  with  occult  in- 
herent strength? 

That  idea  belongs  to  the  same  old  mythology. 
But  a  force  that  is  displacement  only,  in  our  per- 
ception, must  be  infinite  in  origin,  ever  itself  irre- 
sistible and  instantaneous,  while  the  manifested 
displacement  is  subject  to  time  and  distance. 


90 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 


PROPOSITION   V. 

Force  cannot  be  transmitted  between  two  bodies 
in  opposite  directions  at  the  same  time. 

Let  Figure  A  represent  two  bodies,  B  and  C,  and 
let  D  represent  a  rod  between  them. 


Then  it  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that  force 
can  move  the  rod  in  the  direction  from  B  to  C,  at 
the  same  time  that  force  is  moving  the  rod  in  the 
direction  from  C  to  B. 

Yet  it  is  sometimes  held  that  a  body  receiving 
light  or  heat,  from  another  body,  does  at  the  same 
time  give  to  the  body  from  which  it  received. 

And  the  explanation  involves  some  theory  of 
force  which  divorces  force  and  matter,  for  no  wave 
even  may  go  opposite  directions  at  once.  Because 
force  always  acts  through  the  medium  of  material, 
and  no  material  may  go  two  opposite  ways  at 
the  same  time  ;  therefore,  force  cannot  be  transmit- 
ted between  two  bodies  in  opposite  directions  at  the 
same  time. 


91 


MECHANISM   OF   NATURE 


PROPOSITION   VI. 

Without  movement  there  can  ~be  no  action  of 
force. 

Every  manifestation  of  force  is  a  mechanical 
movement  of  material  parts.  (Prop.  XXV,  B.  2.) 

Evidently  every  movement  is  a  mechanical  move- 
ment, and  by  it  material  parts  are  moved. 

And  yet  the  occult  conception  of  forces  will  ever 
creep  to  the  foreground  with  an  attempt  to  sub- 
stitute some  hocus  pocus,  for  the  necessary  flow  of 
material,  from  the  body  that  transmits  force,  to 
the  body  that  receives  force. 

Force  cannot  be  stored  up,  or  augmented  or  de- 
stroyed. (Prop.  XIII,  B.  1.)  Therefore,  force 
cannot  be  dormant  or  consist  of  a  dead  pressure, 
but  must  ever  be  associated  with  motion. 

Does  the  nail  driven  into  the  wall,  and  is  hold- 
ing up  a  weight,  exert  force?  Certainly  not.  It 
is  when  the  nail  gives  way  and  the  weight  falls 
that  force  is  manifested.  Let  one  end  of  a  rope 
be  fastened  to  a  stump,  and  the  rope  passed 
through  a  pulley  on  a  log.  Then  if  a  horse  pull 
on  the  other  end  of  the  rope  his  power  will  be 
doubled  on  the  log.  But  if  the  log  will  not  move, 
the  stump  will  come  out  just  as  readily  as  if  the 
horse  were  hitched  directly  to  the  stump,  except- 
ing the  friction  of  the  pulley. 

A  dead  pressure  may  be  multiplied  a  thousand- 
92 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

fold,  but  that  is  not  multiplying  force.  For  every 
action  of  force  implies  motion,  and  every  motion 
is  a  shifting  of  material  in  universal  space. 
Therefore,  when  we  multiply  the  intensity  of  any 
force,  we  must  needs  shorten  the  duration  of  the 
manifestation  of  that  force,  because  in  the  last 
instance  every  manifestation  of  force  consists  in 
so  much  space  vacated  by  one  identity  and  taken 
up  by  another  identity.  Yet  motion  is  not  force, 
but  the  result  of  force  acting  upon  material. 

A  pressure,  a  tendency,  an  attraction  on  any 
dormant  potentiality  or  stored  up  energy,  these 
all  are  not  force,  but  the  indications  of  a  universal, 
ever-present  force;  the  material  bodies  that  pos- 
sess .these  dormant  qualities,  they  are  simply  ready 
and  prepared,  in  the  organization  of  their  peculiar 
forms,  to  manifest  the  actions  of  a  universal  dis- 
placement motion.  And  only  when  there  is  a 
movement  of  material  particles  can  there  be  a 
manifestation  of  force. 


PROPOSITION   VII. 

The  primary  spheres  of  void  matter  have  neither 
weight,  nor  that  persistency  in  acquired  motion 
attributed  to  inertia.  Nor  can  any  motion  impart 
momentum  to  them. 

Let  any  substance  be  heated.  Then  it  will  ex- 
pand, and  the  resultant  empty  spaces  between  the 
particles  will  be  filled  up  with  spheres  of  void 

93 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

matter.  But  the  substance  will  weigh  no  more 
after  being  heated  than  before. 

Therefore,  the  void  matter  added  to  the  sub- 
stance had  no  weight  of  its  own  to  add  to  the  weight 
of  the  substance. 

Again,  because  every  substance  is  surrounded 
by  void  matter,  and  permeated  by  it,  and  all  space 
not  occupied  by  organized  matter  is  filled  by  con- 
tinuous void  matter;  therefore,  void  matter  must 
balance  itself  everywhere,  even  as  the  air  on  top 
of  our  scales  is  balanced  by  the  air  under  our 
scales.  And  stars  and  planets  moved  through  void 
matter  in  fixed  regular  orbits,  which  would  evi- 
dently be  impossible  if  void  matter  possessed  mo- 
mentum and  would  persist  in  any  motion  acquired. 


PROPOSITION   VIII. 

Every  identical  manifestation  of  force  is  at  last 
connected,  on  both  ends,  with  a  movement  of  pri- 
mary spheres  in  universal  void  matter.  All  force 
is  universal  force,  and  all  motion  is  universal  mo- 
tion. 

Force  can  act  only  between  organized  bodies  of 
material.  (Prop.  I,  B.  3.)  But  the  body  that 
transmitted  the  force  did  not  generate  that  force. 
(Prop.  XII,  B.  1.)  Neither  was  it  stored  up  in 
the  transmitting  body.  (Prop.  XIII,  B.  1.) 

Therefore,  the  transmitting  body  gave  that  which 
94 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

it  had  first  received,  and  the  receiving  body,  being 
unable  to  store  up  force,  must  again  transmit  it. 

We  can  trace  identical  manifestations  of  force, 
heat  for  instance,  back  through  many  changes  in 
surrounding  material,  and  forward  through  many 
changes  that  follow  the  original  manifestation  of 
heat;  but  nowhere  can  we  find  a  material,  being 
changed  by  heat,  that  does  not  by  its  own  change 
produce  farther  change. 

We  trace  every  manifestation  of  force  on  earth 
back  to  the  sun ;  but  does  not  the  sun  receive  while 
it  gives,  and  does  not  the  earth  give  while  it  re- 
ceives ? 

Both  sun  and  earth  are  surrounded  by  void 
matter,  and  in  that  same  continuous  void  matter 
float  millions  of  stars  that  shine  upon  the  earth. 
And  because  we  see  their  light  we  know  that  mate- 
rial must  pass  from  each  one  of  them  to  us.  (Prop. 
XVII,  B.  1.) 

The  sun  that  holds  the  earth  in  the  grasp  of 
gravity  is  again  held  and  influenced  by  other 
stars,  for  the  sun  also  moves,  not  in  a  straight 
line  but  in  an  orbit. 

There  are  changes  upon  the  sun;  clearly  our 
astronomers  can  observe  them;  but  can  the  sun 
change  his  own  spots? 

Because  the  primary  spheres  of  void  matter 
penetrate  all  substance,  and  because  all  that  part 
of  the  Universe  not  filled  with  organized  matter 
is  occupied  by  a  continuous  mass  of  void  matter, 
therefore  the  spheres  of  void  matter  are  eyery- 

95 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

where  pushing  on  one  another,  and  the  movement 
of  one  must  affect  the  whole  mass.  But  the  move- 
ment of  any  organized  body  must  also  affect  the 
whole  Universe,  because  such  movement  compels 
some  other  body  to  move,  and  finally  the  movement 
of  organized  bodies  must  come  again  to  a  move- 
ment of  void  matter. 

The  atoms  of  organized  bodies  are  built  up  of 
primary  spheres  in  closest  possible  contact;  there- 
fore, a  primary  sphere  may  not  penetrate  an 
atom.  And  if  an  atom,  or  an  aggregation  of  many 
atoms  in  an  organized  body,  change  place  any- 
where in  the  Universe,  several  rows  of  primary 
spheres  of  void  matter  must  be  moved  out  of 
the  way. 

But  where  shall  the  primary  spheres  move  to  in 
a  Universe  that  is  full? 

There  is  no  vacant  place  behind  the  moving 
body,  for  something  is  pushing  it.  (Prop.  II,  B. 
3.)  If  the  moving  body  is  not  pushed  out  of  its 
place  by  another  organized  body,  then  it  must  be 
by  void  matter. 

While  we  can  observe  the  movement  and  pressure 
of  organized  substances,  even  in  the  gaseous  state, 
through  almost  endless  notations,  these  movements 
sooner  or  later  are  converted  into  some  so-called 
force.  That  really  means,  "The  movement  of 
bodies  which  we  can  directly  observe  is  transferred 
to  a  movement  in  void  matter,  where  we  cannot 
directly  observe  movement.'' 

And  because  primary  spheres  are  incompressible 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

and  because  the  whole  Universe  is  full  of  them 
(Prop.  I,  B.  1),  therefore,  a  movement  of  any  one 
or  more  of  them  necessitates  the  change  of  some 
bo'dy  into  its  component  void  matter,  and  a  simul- 
taneous change  of  void  matter  somewhere  else  into 
organized  substance.  (Prop.  XXI,  B.  1.)  Yet 
even  where  these  two  changing  bodies  are  in  close 
proximity,  the  movement  of  primary  spheres  be- 
tween them  is  participated  in  by  all  void  matter 
surrounding  the  moving  spheres,  in  ever  lessening 
distance  of  movement,  as  the  distance  from  the 
bodies  increases. 

This  may  be  readily  seen  by  putting  a  number 
of  round  disks  (coins,  for  instance)  on  the  table 
in  closest  possible  contact,  and  then  moving  any 
inside  disk  in  any  direction. 

Again,  our  brain  undergoes  a  change,  when  we 
see  a  star  millions  of  miles  off,  and  countless  other 
identities  suffer  a  change  because  of  that  same 
starlight.  Then  there  must  be  a  change  of  position 
of  every  P.  S.  between  us  and  the  star.  And  in 
every  direction  a  change  must  take  place. 

Therefore,  every  manifestation  of  force  is  at 
last  connected,  on  both  ends,  with  a  movement 
of  P.  S.  in  universal  void  matter;  all  force  is  uni- 
versal force. 


97 


MECHANISM   OF   NATURE 


PROPOSITION   IX. 

Human  reason  cannot  comprehend  the  infinite, 
nor  determine  the  direction  of  an  infinite  universal 
force. 

Let  Figure  A  represent  a  cask  filled  with  1,000 
gallons  of  an  incompressible  liquid.  And  let  B  and 


C  represent  tubes  with  perfect  pistons,  and  let  the 
tubes  also  be  filled  with  the  liquid. 

Then  if  a  weight  of  10  Ibs.  is  put  on  the  upper 
piston,  there  will  be  10  Ibs.  of  pressure  on  a  like 
area  of  every  part  of  the  inside  of  the  cask  and 
the  lower  piston.  (Pascal's  experience.)  But 
there  will  be  no  movement  until  something  yields. 
(Prop.  Ill,  B.  3.)  Let  the  lower  piston  yield. 
Then  what  part  of  the  cask  will  the  liquid  go  to 
that  comes  out  of  the  upper  tube,  and  where  will 
the  liquid  come  from  that  fills  the  lower  tube? 

98 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

It  is  evident  that  every  particle  of  the  liquid  in 
the  cask  is  affected  by  the  movement,  and  the 
bodies  E  and  F  floating  in  the  liquid  are  also  af- 
fected by  it. 

Yet  it  seems  almost  impossible  to  determine  in 
what  direction  the  particles  moved  that  changed 
position,  or  how  the  position  of  the  bodies  E  and  F 
was  altered,  relative  to  one  another. 

Then  if  we  can  scarcely  calculate  the  movement 
of  particles  in  a  very  limited  vessel,  knowing  the 
point  where  force  enters,  and  also  the  point  where 
force  leaves  the  vessel,  how  can  we  determine  the 
direction  of  universal  movement  ? 

For  our  Universe  has  no  visible  upper  tube 
where  force  enters,  and  no  lower  tube  where  it  is 
discharged,  and  where  are  the  staves  that  may 
constitute  the  bounds  of  the  Universe? 

But  let  it  be  otherwise  and  let  the  visible  stars 
•and  our  solar  system  constitute  the  Universe,  and 
let  the  Milky  Way  indicate  the  direction  in  which 
universal  force  moves.  (Hypothesis.)  Then  that 
force  must  either  move  in  a  circle,  or  have  an  inlet 
and  an  outlet. 

But  force  moving  in  a  circle  is  not  force  at  all, 
to  any  sane  reasoning,  for  it  would  balance  itself. 

Then  the  Milky  Way  must  have  two  ends,  one 
where  force  enters,  and  one  end  where  it  is  dis- 
charged. (Hypothesis.) 

Then  how  are  these  ends  situated  relative  to  one 
another,  and  whence  comes  force  to  the  Milky  Way 
and  whither  does  it  go  when  it  leaves?  There- 

99 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

fore,  however  narrow  our  view,  within  it  lies  the 
infinite;  "and  if,  on  the  wings  of  the  morning 
light,  we  fly  to  the  uttermost  star, ' '  then  lies  before 
us  and  on  every  side  the  infinite,  unfathomable 
space. 

And  if  we  bestow  upon  infinite  force  a  personal 
identity,  perhaps  a  name,  where  then  is  that  above 
that  1,500  million  humans  point  to  in  1,500  million 
different  and  often  opposite  directions? 

Therefore,  the  legitimate  scope,  wherein  force 
may  be  considered,  is  in  that  part  of  the  Universe 
from  which  we  may  receive  material  impressions, 
and  between  living,  material  identities. 

And  human  reason  cannot  comprehend  the  in- 
finite, nor  determine  the  direction  of  an  infinite 
universal  force. 

PROPOSITION   X. 

The  limitation  of  identical  manifestations  of 
force  through  identical  material  bodies,  and  their 
relation  to  time  and  distance,  is  the  result  of  the 
one  law  common  to  all  matter,  namely,  "All  mat- 
ter must  occupy  space." 

A  unit  of  force  requires  a  certain  amount  of 
work  to  be  done  in  a  certain  time. 

The  amount  of  work  or  change  performed,  alone 
by  itself,  cannot  be  a  standard,  neither  can  time 
or  distance  alone  be  a  standard. 

For  our  mechanism  may  multiply  one  at  the 
100 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

expense  of  the  other,  so  that  one  pound  lifted  a 
hundred  feet  can  be  always  made,  by  falling  the 
hundred  feet,  to  lift  a  hundred  pounds  one  foot. 

Yet  there  can  be  no  amount  of  force,  because 
force  is  irresistible.  Neither  can  the  action  of 
force  be  faster  or  slower,  for  force  is  ever  instan- 
taneous. (Prop.  IV,  B.  3.) 

Then  how  may  these  contrary  statements  be  rec- 
onciled ? 

As  far  back  as  human  memory  runs  not  to  the 
contrary,  the  two  propositions,  one  that  the  infinite 
whole  swallows  up  all  identity,  and  the  other  that 
every  identity  carries  within  itself  the  infinite,  have 
divided  the  world  into  two  factions. 

And  under  some  party  name  or  other  have  Phari- 
sees and  Sadducees  disputed  and  fought  about  the 
relation  of  the  individual  to  the  whole,  through  all 
ages. 

But  all  the  wars  that  have  been  fought  and  all 
the  books  that  have  been  written  have  not  settled 
the  question;  a  fatalist  is  still  a  fatalist  and  an 
anarchist  is  still  an  anarchist. 

And  science  has  never  profited  by  pursuing 
abstract  tangles,  for  true  science  deals  with  iden- 
tities; it  is  the  knowledge  of  changing  forms,  the 
tracing  of  one  change  to  another  change. 

Therefore,  let  it  be  granted  that  force  is  irre- 
sistible and  instantaneous,  that  Mohammed  can 
move  the  Mountain  if  he  will;  and  also  that  Mo- 
hammed is  limited  by  his  environment,  that  force 
is  bounded  in  intensity  and  distance. 
101 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

Then  what  is  the  real  unit  of  force  ? 

Because  all  force  requires  an  inequality.  (Prop. 
XVIII,  B.  1.)  And  because  all  substances  are 
built  up  of  primary  spheres.  (Prop.  XIX,  B.  1.) 

Because  the  primary  spheres  built  up  into  or- 
ganized atoms  require  less  room  in  the  Universe 
than  they  did  in  void  matter.  (Prop.  XX,  B.  1.) 

Therefore,  this  change  of  matter,  from  its  void 
state  to  organization  is  the  origin  of  force,  as  far 
as  human  reason  may  comprehend.  (Prop.  XXI, 
B.I.) 

And  the  real  unit  of  force  is,  "One  primary 
sphere  changed  from  void  matter  to  organized 
matter,  and  the  corresponding,  simultaneous  change 
of  one  P.  S.  from  organized  matter  to  void  matter. ' ' 


B 

"1 


iD 


Let  Figure  A  represent  a  modified  hydraulic 
jack.  And  let  B  represent  a  large  tube  filled  with 
water.  Let  C  represent  a  rod  ten  times  as  great 
in  diameter  as  the  rod  D ;  and  let  both  rods  pene- 
trate the  closed  ends  of  the  tube  B  through  tightly 
fitting  holes.  Then  for  every  pound  of  pressure 
put  on  the  small  rod,  pushing  it  in,  there  will  be 
a  hundred  pounds  of  pressure  on  the  end  of  the 
larger  rod, 

102 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

But  if  the  tube  B  is  filled  with  air  only  the  pres- 
sure on  the  little  rod  will  not  be  multiplied  a 
hundredfold  onto  the  larger  rod. 

Then  it  is  evident  that  the  comparative  incom- 
pressibility  of  the  water  is  a  factor  in  the  result. 
Considering  the  molecules  of  water  as  spheres  of 
like  diameter,  if  10  spheres  are  in  contact  with  the 
end  of  the  little  rod  1,000  are  in  contact  with  the 
larger  rod.  And  all  these  1,010  spheres  and  every 
other  one  in  the  tube  are  as  close  together  as  the 
intervening  void  matter  will  admit. 

That  the  increase  of  pressure  can  be  the  result  of 
one  sphere  slipping  in  between  two  others  is  out 
of  the  question,  for  that  would  mean  an  increase 
of  volume. 

Neither  can  the  converging  of  the  rows  of 
spheres,  from  the  lesser  to  the  larger  rod,  act  as  a 
knuckle  joint  lever,  for  then  the  pressure  would 
increase  after  the  square,  whereas  it  is  equivalent 
to  the  simple  increase  of  the  larger  rod  over  the 
smaller. 

It  is  then  evident  that  the  pressure  exerted  on 
any  one  sphere,  within  the  tube,  is  imparted,  un- 
divided and  undiminished,  to  every  other  sphere. 

And  as  long  as  the  pressure  remains  a  pressure 
only,  it  makes  no  difference  how  many  spheres  are 
involved  in  the  whole  pressure,  for  each  transmits 
as  a  whole  what  it  receives  as  a  whole. 

And  the  little  rod  of  Figure   A  received  and 
transmitted  the  pressure  upon  it  as  one  whole  to 
all  the  several  spheres  in  contact  with  its  end.    But 
103 


MECHANISM   OF   NATURE 

that  total  pressure  is  divided  equally  between  all 
the  spheres  in  contact  with  the  rod. 

Then  how  and  why  is  that?  Can  anybody  really 
understand  the  reason  that  the  spheres  do  on  one 
hand  divide  a  total  pressure,  and  on  the  other 
transmit  all  the  pressure  that  each  has  received,  to 
every  other  sphere  in  contact  at  once,  undivided 
and  undiminished  ?  The  lever  distributes  the  whole 
pressure  upon  it  on  both  ends,  equally  over  the 
whole  length  of  the  lever;  the  pulley  divides  the 
total  pressure  between  the  stationary  end,  the  sev- 
eral wheels  and  the  identity  that  pulls. 

And  in  every  mechanical  device  there  is  this 
mysterious  capability  of  several  identities  to  divide 
a  total  force  or  pressure  between  themselves.  Re- 
versing the  statement  and  saying  "that  each  iden- 
tity, or  particle  of  a  compound  identity,  has  the 
capacity  to  add  its  received  quota  of  force  to  the 
accumulative  whole, "  seems  to  put  the  question  in 
a  clearer  light ;  and  yet  there  remain  ever  the  why 
and  the  wherefore.  % 

Then  substituting  for  an  imperfect  hydraulic 
jack,  with  its  medium  of  partially  compressible 
water,  a  perfect  Universe  filled  with  incompressible 
primary  spheres,  it  is  at  once  apparent  that  every 
identity  or  organized  body  exerts  any  pressure  put 
upon  it  as  a  whole,  on  all  those  primary  spheres 
that  prevent  its  movement.  And  these  spheres  di- 
vide the  total  pressure  between  themselves,  and 
transmit  it  to  every  other  sphere  in  the  Universe 
undivided. 

104 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

Then  considering  that  every  organized  body  in 
the  Universe  acts  precisely  the  same,  the  pressure 
would  be  equalized  on  all,  and  no  amount  of  pres- 
sure can  produce  movement  without  unequal 
yielding. 

And  again  this  unequal  yielding  leads  to  the 
blank  wall  of  the  infinite. 

But  pressure  is  not  force,  neither  is  displace- 
ment force,  but  the  result  of  force. 

The  infinite  primary  cause  is  without  the  circle 
of  human  reasoning,  and  this  cause  that  is  pri- 
mary is  the  present  force,  and  the  moving  power 
of  every  change  that  is  to  come. 

For  not  an  atom  can  change  to  combine,  nor  an 
ether  particle  move  from  its  place  in  the  Universe, 
until  somewhere  in  the  Universe  the  supreme  cause 
decrees  life  to  this  one  and  death  to  that  other. 

But  the  changes  in  identities  within  the  circle 
of  our  observation,  these  changes  are  a  mechanical 
displacement,  and  the  dead  pressure  that  is  on  all 
void  matter  alike  is  converted  into  vital  motion 
through  the  disorganizing  of  substance  in  one  place 
and  the  organizing  of  void  matter  in  another. 

The  mechanical  changes  in  substances  around  us, 
the  visible  changes  of  position  between  the  several 
parts  of  our  machines,  these  clearly  conform  to  the 
laws  of  displacement. 

But  every  well  known  mechanical  action  is  based 
upon  gravity  and  inertia  that  are  not  really  under- 
stood. Yet  gravity  and  inertia  are  not  occult 
forces,  but  they  must  be  also  subject  to  laws  of 
105 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

displacement  because  they  can  act  through  matter 
only.  (Axiom  I.)  It  is  then  undoubtedly  an  ad- 
vantage in  the  consideration  of  identical  forces  to 
look  upon  force  as  displacement;  to  consider  so 
much  universal  space  vacated  as  so  much  force 
brought  into  play. 

And  because  every  movement  is  connected  on 
both  sides  with  a  movement  of  void  matter,  the 
question  of  intensity  and  duration  of  movement 
of  any  organized  body  resolves  itself  into  the  ques- 
tion, "How  many  organized  bodies,  and  how  many 
primary  spheres  of  void  matter  are  affected  by 
the  movement,  and  divide  the  total  pressure  be- 
tween themselves  ?  " 

For  a  dead  pressure  becomes  motion  only  when 
something  yields  to  it,  and  before  anything  can 
yield  it  must  have  somewhere  to  go  to.  If  the 
Universe  were  one  whole  body,  then  any  change 
that  it  might  undergo  would  have  to  be  instanta- 
neous. 

But  we  cannot  conceive  how  anything  composed 
of  particles  can  change  instantaneously,  when  one 
particle  must  change  before  the  other  can  move. 

And  because  10  spheres  of  water  in  our  hydraulic 
jack  cannot  fill  the  whole  space  vacated  by  a  thou- 
sand spheres  of  equal  diameter,  therefore,  the  ten 
must  get  990  to  help  them ;  the  little  rod  of  Figure 
A  must  move  100  times  as  far  as  the  larger  to 
multiply  the  pressure  upon  it  a  hundredfold. 

Then  looking  upon  all  manifested  force,  per- 
ceptible to  us  directly,  as  the  result  of  displace- 
106 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

ment,  the  limitations  of  forces  become  a  question  of 
space  vacated  on  one  side  and  occupied  on  the 
other  side,  and  how  many  primary  spheres  par- 
ticipated in  the  movement. 

Because  any  manifested  force  is  already  preceded 
by  innumerable  changes,  before  we  perceive  it, 
therefore,  we  may  justly  look  upon  force  as  already 
brought  into  the  relations  of  time  and  distance, 
before  we  perceive  any  manifestation  of  force. 
Then  through  the  law  that  matter  must  occupy 
space,  force  that  is  infinite  and  instantaneous  is 
limited  in  our  perception  to  laws  of  intensity  and 
duration  of  time  and  distance. 


PROPOSITION   XI. 

Two  lines  drawn  from  the  centre  of  any  primary 
sphere,  anywhere  in  the  Universe,  to  the  centres 
of  two  other  P.  S.  in  closed  contact  with  the  first 
sphere,  together  with  all  lines  that  may  be  draivn 
parallel  to  both  of  these  lines,  constitute  a  universal 
plane. 

Let  the  circles  in  Figure  A  represent  primary 
spheres.  £  p 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

And  let  the  line  B  C  join  the  centres  of  the 
circles  B  and  C. 

And  let  the  line  B  D  join  the  centres  of  the 
circles  B  and  D. 

Let  the  line  E  F  touch  the  outer  edges  of  the 
circles  B  and  C. 

Then  it  is  evident  that  the  line  E  F  which  is 
parallel  to  the  line  B  C  cannot  be  parallel  to  the 
line  B  D  that  diverges  from  the  line  B  C,  except 
only  in  one  direction,  namely,  the  plane  of  this 
paper.  And  it  is  evident  also  that  no  other  line 
can  be  drawn  parallel  to  both  the  lines  B  C  and 
B  D  except  in  a  plane  wherein  any  number  of 
lines  may  be  drawn  parallel  to  both,  although  in 
every  other  direction  they  must  diverge. 


PROPOSITION   XII. 

Every  manifestation  of  force  whose  intensity  is 
decreased  after  the  inverse  square,  or  after  the 
plain  increase  of  the  square,  by  the  increase  of 
distance  between  the  bodies  displaying  the  mani- 
festation, is  a  displacement  of  P.  8.  of  void  matter 
in  plane  layers. 

Light,  heat,  magnetism  and  gravity  are  transmis- 
sions of  force  from  one  body  to  another  body,  and 
always  there  are  two  bodies  affected  by  them  at 
the  same  time.  And  these  manifestations  often 
occur  when  there  is  no  organized  material  between 
108 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

the  two  bodies,  or  through  a  vacuum,  and  plainly 
the  transmission  is  through  void  matter. 

Then  whatever  we  consider  force  to  be,  if  the 
transmitting  body  throws  off  this  force  in  all  direc- 
tions, and  the  receiving  body  receives  its  quota  from 
that  sphere  of  influence,  then  the  increase  in  dis- 
tance must  lessen  the  intensity  of  the  force  after 
the  inverse  cube.  (Prop.  IV,  B.  2.)  But  while 
the  sun  shines  in  all  directions,  our  eyes  receive  the 
light  from  one  direction  only,  in  any  particular 
transmission,  and  the  intervening  primary  spheres 
increase  in  number  after  the  square  and  divide  any 
vacated  space  between  themselves.*  If  the  P.  S.  of 
void  matter  were  placed  all  at  right  angles  to  one 
another  throughout  the  Universe,  then  the  increase 
of  distance  between  two  bodies  under  the  action  of 
force  would  mean  a  simple  increase  of  P.  S.  in- 
volved. But  the  slightest  movement  would  dis- 
arrange any  such  right  angled  arrangement. 
(Ocular  demonstration.) 

Again,  no  organized  substance,  not  even  gases, 
possess  that  uniformity  of  particles  and  freedom 
of  motion  necessary  to  the  free  play  of  force, 
transmission.  Therefore,  the  transmission  of  force 
that  conforms  strictly  to  an  increase  in  intensity 
after  the  square,  or  the  inverse  square,  by  a  les- 
sening of  distance,  can  only  be  through  plane  lay- 
ers of  P.  S.,  for  a  plane  increases  after  the  square. 
(Prop.  IV,  B.  2.) 


109 


MECHANISM    OP    NATURE 
PROPOSITION   XIII. 

HYPOTHESIS.       THE    LAW   OF    LIFE. 

Every  identity,  that  possesses  life  or  organiza- 
tion of  any  degree,  must  continually  exchange  the 
matter  of  which  it  is  composed. 

All  life  is  a  change,  and  human  reason  cannot 
comprehend  anything  that  is  incapable  of  change. 

All  that  we  perceive  is  brought  to  our  perception 
by  some  change  in  the  thing  observed,  which  pro- 
duces a  change  in  us. 

And  always  we  associate  life  with  action. 

The  living  identities,  whose  life  we  can  perceive, 
need  nourishment  to  build  up  again  that  which  was 
wasted.  And  when  wasting  and  recuperation  cease, 
the  life  that  animated  the  identity  observed  is  no 
more. 

Science  has  recognized  the  application  of  this 
law  of  life  to  the  human  body,  and  to  animal  and 
plant  creation.  But  iron  and  stone  are  still  deemed 
without  life,  and  subject  to  disintegration  only 
through  outside  influences.  Yet  a  dead  thing  can- 
riot  obey  a  law,  and  stone  and  iron  obey  many 
laws  beside  the  law  of  displacement. 

Evidently  there  is   a  marked  division  between 

the  matter  that  composes  celestial  bodies  and  the 

matter   that   fills   the   space   between   the   several 

bodies.     The  Mosaic  philosophy  makes  the  division 

110 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

of  light  and  darkness  a  distinct  act  of  creation, 
and  certainly  the  void  matter  that  transmits  light, 
heat,  gravity  and  magnetism  is  not  affected  by 
these  forces  as  are  either  the  source  or  the  recip- 
ients of  them. 

The  primary  spheres  of  void  matter  cannot  be 
made  hotter  or  colder;  they  have  neither  weight 
nor  capacity  for  momentum,  because  they  are  in- 
capable of  change,  and  every  manifestation  of 
force  implies  a  change  in  the  material  that  shows 
the  action  of  force. 

Then,  in  order  to  manifest  force  a  thing  must 
have  organization  of  particles,  and  through  that 
organization  only  can  the  thing  be  subject  to 
change,  when  the  particles  are  in  the  last  instance 
ultimate,  primary  and  unchangeable. 

That  this  necessary  change  in  organization  can 
be  effected  through  a  loose  about  vibration,  with- 
out an  interchange  of  ultimate  particles,  is  in  the 
first  place  improbable,  and  upon  closer  investiga- 
tion it  is  impossible.  (Prop.  XVI,  B.  1.) 

The  circulation  of  the  blood  has  been  recognized 
for  only  a  comparatively  short  period,  and  it  seems 
now  strange  that  any  child  should  not  know  the 
fact  instinctively;  yet  we  hold  that  the  inside  of 
our  green  fir  tree  has  been  the  same  for  hundreds 
of  years.  And  the  granite  of  our  mountains  we 
deem  to  be  unchanged  for  ages.  Yet  all  the  while 
tree  and  mountain  and  human  body  have  partici- 
pated in  the  planetary  life  of  the  earth,  and  the 
smallest  atom  of  them  has  been  subject  to  gravity, 
111 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

to  heat  and  magnetism ;  every  substance  is  playing 
a  part  in  the  economy  of  nature. 

Is  it  dead  matter  that  exercises  attraction  upon 
other  dead  matter  ?  Then  is  force  an  occult  power, 
and  all  science  guesswork  of  to-day,  to  be  over- 
thrown to-morrow  by  the  last  discovered  occult 
power  ? 

There  is  something  going  on  in  bodies  changing 
through  force,  beside  a  mere  widening  and  closing 
of  interstices  between  particles.  (Prop.  XVII, 
B.I.) 

But  in  all  those  manifestations  of  force,  where 
our  reason  can  clearly,  even  if  not  directly  through 
the  medium  of  our  senses,  perceive  a  movement  of 
P.  S.  from  one  body  to  another,  we  yet  fail  utterly 
to  observe  a  diminution  of  mass  in  one  and  an  in- 
crease in  the  other.  The  mere  passage  of  void  mat- 
ter through  two  organized  bodies  cannot  produce 
that  inequality  between  them  which  is  necessary 
to  a  display  of  force.  Somehow  the  void  matter 
must  take  hold  of  both  bodies,  and  of  each  differ- 
ently. There  seems  then  no  other  hypothesis,  ex- 
cept in  those  forces  at  least  that  have  a  strict  rela- 
tion to  mass,  that  the  whole  mass  is  subject  to  a 
fundamental  law  of  life.  And  the  constant  ex- 
change of  material,  which  we  observe  in  complex 
identities,  must  extend  to  all  organized  matter. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  atoms  as  well  as  the  most 
complex  identity  must  continually  exchange  their 
component  parts. 

Then  the  question  presents  itself,  does  the  whole 
112 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

atom  die  at  once,  or  can  the  primary  spheres  com- 
posing the  atom  be  renewed  one  by  one  ? 

Now,  an  examination  of  any  form  built  up  of 
spheres  in  closest  contact  will  at  once  disclose  the 
fact  that  spheres  of  like  diameter  cannot  pene- 
trate such  a  form.  And  if  the  form  is  made  up  of 
a  considerable  number  of  spheres,  some  of  these 
will  be  surrounded  by  others,  so  that  they  cannot 
be  removed  without  breaking  up  the  form. 

It  is  then  evident  that  if  atoms  die  at  all,  they 
die  all  over  at  once.  An  atom  cannot  grow,  neither 
can  it  be  dismembered  and  remain  an  atom.  There- 
fore, it  must  be  born  as  an  atom,  and  birth,  change- 
less existence  and  death  is  all  that  an  atom  can 
undergo  as  an  atom. 

The  decomposition  of  atoms  is  beyond  our  direct 
perception,  and  therefore  atoms  have  been  regarded 
as  primary  identities. 

But  molecules,  the  organizations  of  the  second 
degree,  can  be  decomposed  by  various  means. 

And  the  organizations  of  higher  degrees  can  be 
decomposed  with  ever  increasing  facility,  as  the 
complexity  of  the  identity  increases.  Yet  there  are 
many  indications  of  the  dismemberment  of  atoms 
in  the  recorded  experiments  of  modern  scientists, 
and  certainly  light  must  either  be  an  occult  force, 
or  the  atoms  of  the  sun  must  decompose  to  give 
light  to  the  earth.  (Prop.  XVII,  B.  1.) 

There  is,  however,  an  apparent  difference  be- 
tween the  growth  of  the  atoms  in  a  stone  at  the 
beginning  and  a  continual  renewal  of  these  atoms 
113 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

in  the  same  stone,  and  even  in  the  human  body 
we  do  not  generally  mean  a  renewal  of  atoms  when 
we  speak  of  a  renewal  of  the  body,  but  rather  an 
exchange  of  atoms. 

But  because  every  substance  is  at  all  times  and 
in  all  places  participating  in  the  whole  life  of  the 
Universe,  therefore,  every  substance  must  share  in 
the  living  and  dying  which  makes  up  the  world. 

Then  taking  for  granted  that  the  hypothesis 
Prop.  XVII,  B.  2,  is  the  truth,  it  necessarily  fol- 
lows that  either  the  new  atom  is  formed  near  the 
centre  of  a  substance,  where  it  can  be  surrounded 
by  twelve  other  atoms  while  the  outlying  atoms 
are  decomposed,  or  else  all  atoms  are  always  in 
groups  of  twelve  and  the  thirteenth  one  dies. 

Atoms  of  all  gases  are  apart  from  one  another, 
but  there  is  nothing  to  prove  that  the  identity 
which  chemists  call  an  atom  is  not  really  a  group 
of  twelve. 

And  even  as  in  the  growth  of  complex  identities 
(Prop.  XX,  B.  2),  this  hypothesis  requires  an 
ability  of  the  groups  of  atoms  to  change  the  centre 
of  force;  for  otherwise  primary  spheres  cannot 
penetrate  a  group  of  twelve  atoms  touching  one 
another,  with  their  centres  equidistant  from  one 
common  centre. 

I;s  then  the  law  of  life  the  result  of  an  occult 
inherent~^p"ower  of  organized  matter?  No,  for 
identical  form  necessitates  identical  life,  and  iden- 
tical life  cannot  be  primary  life.  (Prop.  XIV, 
B.  2.) 

114 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

Identical  life,  which  is  subject  to  human  reason 
clearly  is  a  mechanical  result  of  displacement  in 
universal  material.  And  that  displacement  is  the 
result  of  ' '  one  whole  occult  infinite  life, ' '  universal 
and  incomprehensible. 

And  of  all  forms  that  constitute  organized  mate- 
rial, no  two  are  the  same  form,  and  no  two  forms 
that  are  not  identical  (similar)  can  manifest  the 
same  universal  life  in  the  same  way.  Therefore, 
the  changes  in  material  by  force  are  based  upon 
the  fundamental  law,  that  all  identities  that  have 
life  or  organization  of  any  degree  must  continually 
exchange  the  matter  of  which  they  are  composed. 

In  many  manifestations  of  force  there  is  no 
increase  or  decrease  of  mass. 

Therefore,  nothing  but  void  matter  enters  into 
the  transmission  of  these  forces  through  vacuums 
or  between  celestial  bodies. 

And  when  the  intensity  of  the  manifestation  is 
subject  to  the  law  of  the  square,  such  manifesta- 
tion must  be  a  displacement  of  void  matter  in 
plane  layers.  (Prop.  12,  B.  3.) 

But  the  direction  of  a  universal  force  cannot  be 
determined  (Prop.  9,  B.  3)  ;  it  is  in  every  direc- 
tion. 

For  in  every  direction  lies  the  infinite. 

And  yet  no  Pantheism  can  satisfy  human  reason, 
and  the  largest  possible  aggregation  of  individual 
identities  cannot  in  human  reason  constitute  an 
identity  that  is  the  originator  of  the  lesser  iden- 
tities. 

115 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

If  the  flow  of  void  material  is  from  the  infinite 
to  the  infinite  through  all  living  identities,  and  the 
infinite  lies  in  every  direction,  then  both  coming' 
and  going  it  must  flow  in  every  direction;  that  is, 
since  matter  cannot  go  in  opposite  directions  at 
once,  the  flow  must  be  in  alternate  plane  layers, 
one  layer  coming  and  the  other  layer  going.  (Al- 
ternate hypothesis.) 

An  examination  of  spheres  in  a  box  will  dis- 
close the  fact  that  they  cannot  all  be  in  closest 
contact.  When  spheres  are  placed  in  closest  con- 
tact in  two  directions  or  dimensions  they  are  in- 
variably at  right  angles  in  the  third  dimension. 

And  even  the  removal  of  a  sphere  will  not  per- 
mit a  movement  of  the  others.  (Ocular  demonstra- 
tion.) Then  any  movement  of  P.  S.  must  be  con- 
sidered as  an  absolute  compulsion,  even  against  the 
total  pressure  upon  the  whole  aggregation  of  void 
matter. 

Then  since  we  receive  impressions  of  force  from 
every  possible  direction,  it  must  follow  that  these 
manifestations  of  force  are  conveyed  either  by  or- 
ganized bodies  or  by  P.  S.  of  void  matter  in  plane 
layers,  or  by  both  in  physical  conjunction.  For 
there  is  no  known  force  amenable  to  the  law  of 
the  cube,  in  distance. 

But  who  may  figure  out  the  sources  of  the  winds, 
or  the  origin  and  life  history  of  the  waves  that 
beat  in  a  thousand  directions  ? 

And  yet  wind  and  wave  are  mechanical  displace- 
ments, and  each  breath  of  wind  and  each  wave  are 
116 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

ultimately  the  result  of  a  great  normal  movement 
of  air  and  water. 

Since  many  forces  penetrate  all  known  sub- 
stance, and  after  thus  penetrating  are  again  amen- 
able to  the  law  of  the  square ;  from  the  uniformity 
of  action  in  gravity  observed  in  a  vacuum,  and 
from  a  great  variety  of  other  reasons,  it  appears 
that  a  normal  flow  penetrates  all  substances  in 
plane  layers. 

And  it  is  very  safe  to  assume  that  nothing  in 
nature  can  stop  the  normal  flow,  and  that  normal 
flow  of  material  must  constitute  the  last  material 
the  human  mind  can  grasp.  For  that  flow,  acting 
upon  organized  forms,  while  breaking  up  every 
form  and  rebuilding  it  particle  by  particle,  must 
itself  become  susceptible  to  laws  of  time  and  dis- 
tance and  therefore  prehensile  to  the  human  mind. 
Then  under  this  alternate  hypothesis  the  infinite 
is  the  solid  background,  an  identical  infinite  for- 
ever incomprehensible  to  human  reason.  And  all 
identity  of  forms,  all  changes  they  may  undergo 
constituting  their  identical  life  because  of  the  uni- 
versal flow,  and  even  the  changes  of  direction,  of 
intensity  or  time,  of  that  flow  itself  between  or- 
ganized bodies,  becomes  perceptible  to  human 
reason. 

How  do  living  identities  exert  their  influence  on 
one  another,  when  none  of  them  have  inherent 
power,  force  or  energy  of  their  own? 

The  answers  to  this  question  constitute  the  mate- 
rial, real  and  progressive  science. 

117 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

In  investigating  any  machinery  it  is  well  to 
begin  with  the  motive  power.  In  searching  nature 
it  is  well  to  settle  the  question  what  constitutes  the 
real  motive  power  of  the  Universe.  And  whenever 
it  becomes  apparent  that  there  is  an  everflowing 
stream  of  void  matter,  flowing  in  alternate  layers, 
through  everything  human  reason  can  perceive, 
then  all  that  living  identities  can  do  to  one  another, 
all  the  changes  they  can  undergo,  must  be  based 
on  these  currents. 

No  living  identity  has  power  of  its  own,  not  one 
of  them  can  produce  energy  or  destroy  it;  like  the 
delicate  parts  of  the  elaborate  machine,  they  can 
only  modify  and  transmit  the  motive  power. 

Any  atom — that  is,  any  form  built  up  of  spheres 
in  closest  contact — when  placed  in  a  stream  of 
spheres  of  equal  size,  flowing  irresistlessly  in  alter- 
nate layers,  must  be  torn  up.  (Ocular  demonstra- 
tion.) 

And  in  tearing  up,  unless  the  spheres  themselves 
be  torn  up,  the  number  of  spheres  constituting  the 
form  will  require  more  room. 

Then  in  order  to  move  out  of  closest  contact  they 
must  shove  an  equal  number  of  spheres  in  adjoin- 
ing layers  into  closest  contact,  and  the  process  must 
be  repeated  continuously. 

Spheres  in  plan  layers  that  are  in  motion  occupy 

the  same  amount  of  space  as  if  they  were  round 

disks  of  equal  diameter,  about  314/400  of  the  total 

space.     Spheres  as  close  as  they  can  be  put  to- 

118 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

gether  will  in  an  uniform  aggregation  occupy  about 
(?)  of  the  total  space.  Spheres  in  closest  contact 
in  the  form  of  atoms  will  occupy  about  (?)  of 
the  total  space. 

It  appears  then  that  when  an  infinite  fiat  decreed 
motion  there  was  no  room  in  a  world  that  was 
void  and  without  form,  it  lacked  about  (?)  of 
space.  And  the  proportion  of  organized  forms  to 
the  whole  Universe  would  seem  to  be  as  (?)  is 
to  one. 

A  cessation  of  that  irresistible  flow  would  appar- 
ently again  throw  all  P.  S.  in  the  Universe  into  the 
closest  possible  contact  of  aggregation  of  spheres, 
the  layers  would  come  closer  together  and  all  atoms 
would  be  unable  to  do  anything  but  dissolve  into 
the  general  aggregation. 

Then  since  all  things  are  at  all  times  subject  to 
gravity,  through  every  change  of  shape,  form  or 
condition,  all  things  must  be  subject  at  all  times 
to  some  fundamental  cause,  some  law  that  may 
appropriately  be  called  the  law  of  life. 

And  this  change,  constant  and  irresistible,  must 
either  be  the  result  of  an  outside  motive  power,  or 
of  an  inherent  primary  force. 

A  force  inherent  in  matter  is  an  occult  force. 

Force  as  a  primary  identity  is  equally  beyond 
human  perception.  And  that  which  is  beyond  we 
may  not  clothe  with  identity. 

Then  what  is  in  the  first  place  the  manner  of 
that  universal  flow  of  void  material,  and  how  does 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

it  in  the  second  place  engage  living  identities  in 
the  Universe  ?  The  true  answers  to  these  questions 
constitute  all  of  science,  and  no  human  can  ever 
get  more  than  a  passing  glimpse  of  this  ocean  of 
truth. 

Because  of  this  ignorance,  this  inability  to  grasp 
all,  man  has  ever  turned  to  occultism  and  sub- 
stituted for  geometrical  solution  of  problems  a 
lazy  turning  over  of  the  radical  underlying  ques- 
tions, to  inherent  powers  of  material,  or  to  motions 
the  result  of  these  powers. 

The  endless  controversy  between  Pharisee  and 
Sadducee  can  only  be  decided  by  the  truth  which 
is  in  neither  one  of  these  schools  of  thought. 

The  questions  of  the  conservation  of  force  and 
of  the  stability  of  the  amount  of  ultimate  matter 
in  the  Universe  can  never  be  solved,  nor  can  they 
be  fully  and  irrevocably  recognized  as  truths, 
unless  both  are  held  as  the  product  of  an  ultimate 
primary  cause. 

Force  is  known  to  us  only  as  change,  and  every 
change  necessitates  a  former  change,  and  a  change 
to  follow.  There  is  then  ever  a  necessity  for  the 
infinite  in  all  finite  reasoning,  and  force  becomes, 
in  the  ultimate  equation  of  human  logic,  a  flow  of 
material  from  the  infinite  to  the  infinite.  No  sub- 
division of  ether,  no  invention  of  new  names  and 
phrases,  no  discovery  of  unknown  manifestations 
of  force,  can  do  away  with  the  necessity  of  a  solid 
background  from  which  force  may  act. 

Then  either  human  reason  must  clearly  recog- 
120 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

nize  its  own  limitation,  and  accept  an  infinite  be- 
yond that  limitation,  without  fruitless  impossible 
endeavor  to  cross  that  limitation,  or  else  be  ever 
making  new  idols  of  clay  to  hold  an  inherent  force. 

PROPOSITION   XIV. 

Inertia  is  the  result  of  the  relations  existing  'be- 
tween every  organized  substance  and  the  whole 
Universe. 

Generally  inertia  is  looked  upon  as  a  negative 
quality  of  all  matter,  and  it  is  stated  that  matter 
can  neither  start  into  motion,  nor  stop  moving  by 
itself  alone.  And  undoubtedly  this  is  true.  But 
there  are  other  things  said  of  inertia  that  are  not 
true.  And  evidently  the  erroneous  impression  is 
the  offspring  of  the  fundamental  misconception 
that  an  occult  force  or  life  can  be  inherent  in,  or 
bestowed  upon,  an  identical  material  body.  The 
law  of  inertia,  that  bodies  moving  by  acquired 
force  move  in  a  straight  line,  is  not  a  negative 
quality  of  matter,  but  a  positive  requirement  of 
force.  Again,  it  is  stated  that  the  tendency  of 
bodies  moving  by  inertia  is  to  go  on  in  a  straight 
line  forever.  And  that  eternal  tendency  is,  for 
the  time  being,  ingrafted  upon  the  moving  body, 
until  it  is  transferred  to  some  other  body.  And 
the  force  that  is  moving  the  body  is  a  separate  por- 
tion of  force;  under  this  hypothesis  it  pertains  to 
the  particular  moving  identity  only,  and  is  cut  off 
121 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

from  all  other  portions  of  force  that  move  other 
particular  identities  at  the  same  time.  And  so 
natural  seems  this  hypothesis  and  so  interwoven 
with  every  day  experience  that  it  seems  scarcely 
possible  that  this  hypothesis  is  wrong.  The  brick- 
bat, thrown  at  an  offending  head,  leaves  the  hands 
of  the  thrower  with  all  the  force  transferred  from 
the  thrower  to  the  brick,  and  when  the  brick  strikes 
the  head,  all  the  force  is  transferred  to  the  head. 
And  this  transference  of  force  from  one  body  to 
another  body  may  be  traced  backwards  of  the 
thrower  infinitely,  or  rather  it  was  always  existing, 
and  it  may  be  followed  on  from  the  head  that  was 
hit,  and  it  must  go  on  hitting  forever.  And  upon 
this  hypothesis  is  built  up  the  wave  motion  myth- 
ology of  nineteenth  century  scientific  evolution. 

But  the  brickbat  in  its  flight  was  not  cut  off 
from  universal  force,  for  it  was  acted  upon  by 
gravity.  And  on  both  ends  of  this  force-mani- 
festation it  was  connected  with  a  movement  of 
primary  spheres  in  void  matter.  (Prop.  VIII, 
B.  3.) 

Again,  the  inertia  of  bodies  is  in  strict  relation 
to  their  mass,  so  that  by  the  momentum  acquired 
through  a  given  amount  of  force,  the  mass  of  any 
substance  may  be  most  accurately  determined. 

Let  a  ball  be  suspended  by  a  small  wire  or 
thread.  Then  a  slight  push  will  set  the  ball  in 
motion,  providing  that  the  push  is  slow  at  first. 
But  it  will  take  a  heavy  blow  to  set  the  ball  into 
rapid  motion  at  once. 

122 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

And  there  is  a  perfect  equivalent  in  the  relative 
energy  required,  in  the  two  cases,  so  that  it  will 
take  exactly  as  much  force  to  start  a  ball  weighing 
10  pounds  with  a  velocity  of  10  feet  a  second  as  is 
required  to  start  a  100-pound  ball  with  a  velocity 
of  1  foot  a  second. 

But  can  the  ball,  by  itself  alone,  multiply  or 
divide  force?  Certainly  there  must  be  something 
outside  of  the  ball  that  participates  in  this  multi- 
plication. 

Because  force  itself  is  irresistible  and  instanta- 
neous (Prop.  IV,  B.  3),  any  identical  manifestation 
of  force  can  be  amenable  to  laws  of  time  and  dis- 
tance only  through  a  multiplication  of  identities 
participating.  (Prop.  X,  B.  3.) 

The  question  really  underlying  a  radical  con- 
sideration of  inertia  is  the  same  old  question  that 
has  always  been  asked  about  and  never  answered — 
what  is  the  true  relation  of  the  individual  to  the 
whole  ?  And  one  party  says  there  is  no  individual, 
and  the  other  party  says  there  is  no  identical 
whole. 

Can  force  move  from  one  body  to  another  body 
and  through  an  infinitely  great  number  of  bodies 
back  to  the  first  body? 

However  theologians  might  answer  such  a  ques- 
tion, a  reasoning  based  upon  impressions  received 
through  changes  wrought  in  matter  by  force  can- 
not admit  any  number  of  bodies  to  be  an  infinite 
number.  Neither  can  any  body  or  particle  be 
without  size.  Therefore,  as  far  as  human  reason 
123 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

can  go,  there  must  be  an  end,  however  long  the 
chain  of  bodies  that  receive  force  one  from  the 
other.  And  beyond  this  human  reasoning  lies  that 
which  is  forever  beyond.  And  if  two  ends  are 
brought  together,  of  any  number  of  bodies,  there 
cannot  be  a  manifestation  of  force  between  the 
bodies. 

And  so  the  force  that  seems  to  be  stored  up  in 
the  body  moving  by  inertia  is  derived  from  the 
infinite  and  must  return  to  the  infinite.  And  the 
moving  body  is  not  cut  off  from  force  and  cannot 
be  in  a  Universe  that  is  full;  something  is  pushing 
the  flying  brickbat  even  in  its  flight. 

There  is  a  spannung,  a  tension  in  the  Universe, 
for  nowhere  can  there  be  within  it  a  place  where 
force  is  not.  And  because  every  substance  joins 
some  other  substance,  or  joins  the  great  aggrega- 
tion of  primary  spheres  of  void  matter  which  sur- 
rounds and  penetrates  all  substance,  it  is  apparent 
that  nothing  material  can  ever  get  outside  of  the 
tension  of  the  whole  Universe. 

Even  as  it  is  impossible  for  a  particle  of  water 
in  the  hydraulic  jack  to  escape  the  pressure  on  the 
whole  of  the  water. 

Therefore,  the  body  moving  because  of  inertia 
is  at  that  time  as  well  as  at  all  other  times  subject 
to  the  laws  of  displacement;  it  must  move  every- 
thing else  out  of  the  way,  and  something  must 
immediately  occupy  the  space  vacated  by  the  mov- 
ing body. 

When  the  movement  occurs  through  an  organ- 
124 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

ized  substance,  as  air,  for  instance,  the  substance 
itself  will  be  changed  to  some  extent,  and  the  study 
of  inertia  will  be  complicated  because  of  these 
changes. 

But  any  organized  body,  moving  through  strictly 
void  matter,  must  push  before  it  every  plane  layer 
of  primary  sphere  that  the  atoms  of  the  moving 
body  encounters. 

And  these  spheres  cannot  slip  in  behind  the 
moving  body,  for  there  is  no  room  to  slip,  and  if 
it  were  possible  that  the  spheres  could  get  behind 
the  moving  body,  then  the  force  would  be  equalized 
in  front  and  behind. 

Therefore,  the  P.  S.  that  are  pushed  out  of  their 
place  must  move  on  in  the  same  universal  plane 
until  absorbed  into  some  new  forming  body,  or  to 
the  infinite. 

And  the  P.  S.  that  occupy  the  vacated  space  of 
the  moving  body  must  come  directly  from  the  in- 
finite or  from  the  disorganizing  of  substance  into 
void  matter. 

And  that  flow  of  void  matter  must  continue, 
even  after  the  first  impulse  is  given,  as  long  as  the 
motion  continues. 

While  this  theory  of  motion  and  inertia  seems 
on  first  presentation  to  be  a  mere  pipe  dream,  it 
is  nevertheless  supported  by  many  observed  facts. 
And  it  seems  possible  that  another  Newton  might 
prove  the  theory  as  the  theory  of  gravitation  was 
proven.  The  movement  of  spheres  in  plane  layers 
is  within  the  scope  of  geometrical  demonstration, 

125 


MECHANISM    OF    NATUKE 

but  perhaps  it  will  require  great  study  to  under- 
stand the  effects  of  numerous  movements  in  vari- 
ous directions  at  the  same  time. 

That  there  is  something  outside  of  a  moving 
body,  which  takes  part  in  the  phenomena  that  are 
the  result  of  inertia,  is  plainly  indicated  by  a  spin- 
ning top,  by  the  gyroscope  and  pendulum. 

Let  a  heavy  ball  be  suspended  from  a  great 
height  by  a  fine  wire.  (Faeault's  experiment.) 
Then  after  the  ball  has  been  carefully  started  to 
swing  in  a  perpendicular  plane,  it  will  keep  on 
swinging  for  some  time  in  that  same  plane,  even 
when  the  turning  of  the  earth  has  made  that  plane 
otherwise  than  perpendicular.  But  at  the  end  of 
every  upward  swing  the  inertia  (or  momentum) 
of  the  ball  is  fully  exhausted,  and  gravity  only 
brings  the  ball  back  down.  And  the  tendency  of 
gravity  is  to  push  down  to  the  centre  of  the  earth, 
or  in  a  perpendicular  path.  Then  clearly  the  ball 
moves  in  the  first  established  plane  because  that 
plane  has  something  to  do  with  the  movement  of 
the  ball,  for  certainly  the  ball  that  is  no  longer 
moving  by  inertia  cannot  then  do  this  or  that  be- 
cause of  any  supposed  inherent  inertia. 

Then  whatever  the  movement  of  void  matter, 
caused  by  bodies  moving  in  spheres  really  is,  that 
movement  is  the  real  cause  of  the  momentum  ac- 
quired by  moving  bodies.  And  this  brings  inertia 
into  relation  with  time  and  distance ;  and,  because 
of  the  Law  of  Life,  that  all  substance  must  change 
component  parts,  even  a  two-fold  motion  by  inertia, 
126 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

like  a  rifle  ball  in  its  flight,  may  be  brought  within 
the  scope  of  investigation. 

That  negative  inertia,  or  rather  the  positive  ca- 
pacity for  acquiring  momentum,  is  a  quality  of 
ponderable  matter  only,  seems  self-evident 

And  yet,  the  unseen  void  matter  must  ever  par- 
ticipate in  every  movement  of  any  substance,  or 
else  every  movement  of  any  material,  organized 
body,  must  ever  be  the  result  of  an  occult  force 
animating  that  body  for  a  time. 

It  is  the  unseen  only  that  opposes  our  physical 
efforts,  for  Motion  is  not  Force ;  a  baby  can  move 
two  thousand  tons  ten  thousand  feet  an  hour,  if 
they  are  perfectly  balanced,  a  thousand  tons  on 
each  arm  of  a  scale.  And  the  baby  may  even  start 
that  motion. 

And  so  the  whole  material  Universe  may  be  con- 
ceived, without  effort,  without  outside  assistance, 
without  lubrication,  without  anything  and  every- 
thing, except  motion. 

And  yet,  there  is  labor  and  resistance  and  effort 
and  trevail,  and  this  only  is  life. 

The  glorious  gospel  of  nothingness  will  not 
shovel  coal,  and  the  universal  vibration  of  ions, 
without  background,  or  beginning  or  end,  is  occult- 
ism, pure  and  simple.  For,  in  that  vibration,  there 
is  nothing  to  make  one  aggregation  of  ions  differ- 
ent from  another,  except  an  occult  identity  be- 
stowed upon  this  or  that  aggregation,  prompting 
an  identical  synchronic  dance  of  vibration,  which 
makes  of  that  aggregation  a  physical  identity. 
127 


MECHANISM   OF   NATURE 

Nothing  has  really  been  learned  in  that  line  of 
thought  about  inertia.  Nothing  can  be  learned 
about  a  mere  negative.  A  negative  is  nothing,  in 
itself,  and  can  lead  to  nothing,  and  all  that  can  be 
said  about  it  amounts  to  nothing.  Motion  is  not 
force.  Force  is  not  an  identity  in  its  manifesta- 
tions. Time  and  distance  are  not  identical  posi- 
tives. Physical  identities  are  not  positive,  un- 
changing identities. 

Where,  then,  is  that  Positive  that  can  make  of 
correlated  negatives  a  positive,  identical  life  ?  That 
can  compel  and  resist  and  dismember  and  recon- 
struct ? 

This  Positive,  over  and  beyond  motion  and  Mat« 
ter  and  manifested  Force,  beyond  reason  and  com- 
prehension, that  all-embracing,  infinite  Identity, 
this  is  not  and  cannot  be,  a  mere  aggregation  of 
individually  occult  identities.  In  all  the  Universe, 
there  is  not  anything  higher  than  conscious  Iden- 
tity. And  yet  we  see  conscious  identities  limited 
by  material  conditions;  their  very  consciousness  a 
product  of  changing  Material.  May,  then,  any 
Identity,  supreme  only  in  consciousness,  be  a  joint 
author  of  that  to  which  he  is  subject  in  his  limi- 
tations ? 

The  very  Supremacy  of  Consciousness  argues  its 
Oneness;  the  conscious  "I"  can  neither  split  up 
nor  combine. 

Then  this,  which  is  the  All  Positive,  above  all 
changing  material,  not  the  product  but  the  infinite 
128 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

cause  of  all  identical  life,  shall  this,  in  our  concep- 
tion, lack  conscious  Identity? 

We  may  not  assign  to  the  infinite  either  time  or 
place  or  limitations.  We  may  not  determine  direc- 
tion or  beginning  or  end.  We  may  not  grasp  an 
infinite  consciousness  with  our  own  limited  con- 
sciousness, for  our  limits  are  material  limits. 

Is  then  the  mighty  play  of  momentum  in  stellar 
space,  in  wind  and  wave  and  in  the  still  small  voice 
of  the  growing  flower  an  infinite  momentum  broken 
into  innumerable  pieces,  to  be  reunited  or  again 
split  up,  at  the  dictates  of  material  identities  with 
occult  powers  ? 

Or  is  momentum  a  mechanical  displacement  of 
organized  matter,  by  the  power  of  an  unseen  dis- 
placement in  void  matter?  Under  this  last  Hy- 
pothesis, let  the  momentum  of  a  pendulum  be  con- 
sidered. 

Let  B — G  in  figure  A  represent  a  pendulum,  and 
for  a  portion  of  the  string  substitute  a  spring 

ABC 


scale.  Then,  when  the  pendulum  weight  is 
drawn  up  to  C  and  released,  gravity  will  tend  to 
draw  the  weight  in  the  line  C — D. 

129 


MECHANISM    OF    NATUEE 

But  the  cohesion  of  the  string  will  not  permit 
a  straight  descent,  but  will  compel  the  descent  in 
the  circular  line  C — G.  And,  as  plainly  indicated 
by  the  scales,  the  pull  of  the  weight  on  the  pivot 
B  will  be  nothing  while  at  C,  and  the  full  amount 
of  the  weight  while  it  is  at  G.  And,  to  some  de- 
gree, and  in  some  manner  the  acceleration  of  the 
fall  is  counteracted  by  the  increase  of  pull  on  the 
pivot.  Then,  under  the  force  storage  theory,  dur- 
ing the  whole  of  the  descent,  the  occult  attraction 
of  gravity  creates,  and  stores  up  in  weight,  the 
new  tendency  momentum.  And  this  new  created 
tendency  is  supposed  to  confirm  to  well  estab- 
lished and  generally  accepted  laws.  [Its  intensity 
and  amount  are  determined  by  the  mass  of  the 
pendulum  weight  and  by  the  velocity  of  its 
motion.]  [This  tendency  prompts  the  body, 
moving  by  momentum,  to  go  on  in  a  straight 
line  and  no  other  line.]  [This  tendency  is  eternal 
from  the  time  of  inception.]  [This  tendency  of 
momentum  can  be  transferred  to  other  substances, 
and  intensity  and  amount  are  interdependent.] 
Then,  during  the  whole  of  the  descent,  gravity 
creates  the  new  power  momentum,  while  yet  the 
newly  acquired  momentum  is  already  exerting  its 
power  to  move  the  weight  in  a  straight  line.  And, 
while  during  the  whole  of  the  descent  gravity  acts 
in  lines  parallel  to  the  line  C — D,  the  line  of  the 
action  of  momentum  becomes  more  and  more  di- 
vergent, until,  at  the  bottom  of  the  descent,  it  is 
at  right  angles  to  the  line  of  straight  descent  C — D, 
130 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

namely  in  the  line  G — M.  There  is  then,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  upward  swing,  no  tendency  of 
gravity  to  move  the  weight  in  the  circular  line 
G — A,  and  all  the  force  of  momentum  is  in  the  line 
G — M.  Then,  since  each  is  a  tendency  only,  under 
this  hypothesis  generally  accepted,  the  resultant 
tendency  from  the  blending  of  the  two  equal  ten- 
dencies must  prompt  the  weight  to  move  in  the 
direction  of  the  line  G — F,  which  bisects  the  angle 
formed  by  the  lines  of  the  action  of  gravity  and 
of  momentum.  Undoubtedly  the  weight  will  move 
in  tke  line  G — F,  if  the  string  is  cut  at  the  moment 
when  the  weight  of  the  swinging  pendulum  is  in  the 
line  B — G.  It  is  the  restraint  of  the  string  only 
that  prompts  the  weight  to  ascend  in  the  circular 
line  G— A. 

Therefore,  the  three  negatives,  gravity  pulling 
away  from  the  line  G — A,  momentum  pulling 
away  from  the  line  G — A,  and  the  cohesion  of  the 
string  preventing  gravity  and  momentum  to  have 
their  way,  this  alone  produces  the  positive  move- 
ment of  the  pendulum  weight,  in  the  line  G — A. 

How  this  dead  restraint  of  a  dead  string  can 
alter  the  direction  of  a  vital  power,  without  bring- 
ing into  the  performance  other  identities  that  are 
really  in  a  movement  of  displacement,  can  only  be 
answered  by  the  sophistry  of  occultism. 

The  restraint  of  the  string  does  not  detract  from 

the  amount  of  the  momentum.     The  weight  will 

go   up   virtually   as  far   as  it    came   down,   and 

that  is  all  it  would  do  under  any  circumstance 

131 


MECHANISM   OF   NATURE 

of  straight  descent  or  cycloid  path  with  any 
contrivance. 

The  difference  in  time  between  the  several 
modes  of  descent,  while  based  theoretically  on 
the  accumulative  power  of  momentum,  presup- 
poses an  occult  capacity  in  material  to  take  up 
additional  power  without  undergoing  a  physical 
change,  under  the  occult  hypothesis  so  commonly 
held.  In  the  descent,  of  the  pendulum  weight, 
one-half  of  the  power  of  gravity  is  counteracted 
by  the  restraint  of  the  string;  it  begins  with 
nothing  and  gets  up  to  the  full  weight  as  shown 
by  the  scale,  yet  neither  is  the  circular  path  twice 
as  long  as  the  path  of  straight  descent,  nor  is  the 
power  of  momentum  one  whit  less.  It  is  supposed 
to  be  a  dead  attraction  of  gravity  only  that  ac- 
cumulates momentum  in  the  descending  weight. 
And  that  momentum  is  again  only  an  occult  ten- 
dency. 

But  there  is  in  the  swinging  of  the  pendulum  a 
uniformity  of  motion  that  is  irreconciliable  with 
the  theory  that  momentum  is  stored  in  the  weight. 
For  in  the  downward  swing  momentum  plus 
gravity  pulls,  and  in  the  upward  swing  momen- 
tum minus  gravity  does  the  work.  Yet,  elimi- 
nating friction  and  air  resistance,  upward  and 
downward  swing  are  equal. 


132 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 


PROPOSITION   XV. 

Gravity  is  the  result  of  a  continuous  flow  of  void 
matter,  coming  from  the  Infinite  and  going 
to  the  Infinite;  and  through  the  process  of  life 
engaging  every  living  Identity  in  the  Universe. 

Gravity  is  a  force  that  strictly  conforms  to  equal 
effects  on  equal  mass  (Newton's  Demonstration). 
Therefore,  the  whole  of  any  and  every  substance 
is  affected  by  gravity. 

Gravity  strictly  conforms  to  an  increase,  in  in- 
tensity, after  the  inverse  square,  by  a  lessening  of 
Distance  between  bodies  (Newton).  Therefore, 
Gravity  is  a  displacement  of  Primary  Spheres  of 
void  matter  in  plane  layers.  (Proposition  XII, 
B.  3.) 

The  use  of  the  word  attraction  in  connection 
with  Gravity,  and  the  promulgation  of  the  modern 
wave  theories,  have  created  an  impression  that 
Newton's  great  work  consisted  in  the  Discovery  of 
an  occult  power,  inherent  in  all  matter,  and  exerted 
through  nothing  at  all. 

Yet  Newton  believed  that  no  intelligent  man 
would  fall  into  such  an  error.  (Newton's  Letter 
to  Hallet.)  And  evidently  Newton  believed  in  a 
last  essential  quality  of  all  matter,  for  otherwise, 
"The  Mass  of  any  Substance"  can  have  no  real 
meaning. 

Looking  upon  Gravity  as  an  occult  attraction, 
there  is  nothing  possibly  to  be  learned  about  it, 
133 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

except  the  recognition  of  the  manifestations  of 
that  attraction.  And  nothing  has  been  learned 
about  Gravity  since  Newton's  day,  and  there  is 
no  known  way  of  converting  Gravity  into  any 
other  force,  or  any  other  force  into  Gravity. 

Yet  there  is,  in  human  nature,  a  half-dead  in- 
stinct that  weight  can  be  lessened  by  deep  inhala- 
tions, and  many  birds  sail  in  a  manner  to  defy 
all  our  estimates  of  aeroplane  results,  from  a  given 
amount  of  force  and  air-resistance. 

And  there  is  a  widespread  belief  in  the  possi- 
bility of  the  conversion  of  universal  force,  through 
human  ingenuity  directly,  into  mechanical  and 
chemical  energy  for  the  use  of  men. 

That  Gravity  furnishes  the  necessary  stable 
background  for  the  action  of  other  Forces  can 
readily  be  seen,  and  looking  upon  all  Forces  as  a 
displacement  of  material,  brings  all  Forces  in  rela- 
tion with  one  another,  in  common  origin. 

But  let  it  be  otherwise,  and  let  Forces  generally 
and  Gravity  in  particular,  be  occult  Forces — that 
is,  something  that  can  work  where  there  is  noth- 
ing to  work  upon.  (Hypothesis.) 

And  let  Fig.  A  represent  an  air-tight  vessel  with 
three  balls  suspended  from  the  top  by  small 
strings.  Through  the  stoppered  tube  D  exhaust 
all  the  air  contained  in  the  vessel.  Then  there 
romains  in  the  vessel  nothing  but  the  suspended 
balls  and  void  matter. 

And  Gravity  that  causes  the  balls  to  attract  each 
other  must  either  work  through  nothing  at  all  or 
134 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

through  the  medium  of  the  void  Matter.  Let  it 
be  granted  that  the  former  is  the  case.  (Hy- 
pothesis.) 

Then  beside  the  general  and  main  attraction  of 


D 


A6  A 


the  earth,  each  ball  has  an  attraction  for  the  two 
other  balls,  which  may  be  measured  with  very 
delicate  apparatus. 

And  because  this  attraction  may  be  measured  it 
is  a  finite  power,  just  so  much  pertaining  to  a 
given  Mass  and  no  more.  Then  after  the  balls 
A  and  B  have  been  brought  into  actual  contact, 
that  attraction  between  them  is  satiated,  and  a 
certain  amount  of  their  whole  attraction  must  be 
held  dormant  in  the  embrace  of  each  other.  (Hy- 
pothesis.) 

And  as  far  as  superficial  observation  goes  the 
Magnet  and  Armature  illustrate  this  hypothesis. 

But  the  attraction  of  the  balls  A  and  B  for  the 
ball  C  is  exactly  as  great  at  a  given  Distance,  when 
135 


MECHANISM   OF   NATURE 

both  are  united  in  one  homogeneous  mass,  as  is 
the  joint  product  of  both  their  attraction  when 
separate,  and  at  the  same  distance. 

Therefore,  this  hypothesis,  that  the  attraction  of 
Gravity  is  exerted  without  the  medium  of  mate- 
rial of  any  kind,  is  erroneous,  and  contrary  to 
human  reason,  because  such  a  power  is  occult  and 
infinite;  it  cannot  be  limited  nor  amenable  to  any 
law. 

Then  because  that  tendency  of  the  balls  in  Fig. 
A  to  come  together  is  the  result  of  some  change 
in  material,  and  .the  only  material  between  the 
balls  is  void  matter. 

Therefore,  the  immediate  cause  of  the  attraction 
Is  a  change  in  void  matter. 

Then  because  void  matter  penetrates  all  sub- 
stance the  P.  S.  of  void  matter  can  go  in  or  out 
of  the  vessel  of  Fig.  A.  And  any  pressure  from 
the  outside  must  press  equally  on  all  sides  of  the 
balls,  and  therefore  no  amount  of  outside  pressure 
alone  can  create  the  tendency  of  the  balls  to  come 
together.  The  only  means,  in  our  knowledge  of 
mechanics,  to  create  such  a  tendency  is  to  make 
the  pressure  between  the  balls  less  than  it  is  on 
the  other  sides  of  the  balls.  Then  how  is  this  done  ? 

Evidently  there  must  be  a  change  in  the  balls 
also,  as  well  as  in  the  void  matter  surrounding 
them.  And  that  change  must  be  going  on  unremit- 
tingly, for  the  tendency  to  come  together  is  con- 
stant. 

But  the  structure  of  a  ball  is  not  changed  by  the 
136 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

prolonged  action  of  Gravity,  neither  are  the  Chem- 
ical properties  nor  elementary  Constitution  of  the 
ball  changed  by  gravity. 

Nor  yet  is  there  any  accumulation  of  Mass  in 
bodies  acted  upon  by  gravity,  as  far  as  we  can 
observe.  And  still  there  must  be;  there  is  a 
change,  and  the  only  change  possible  seems  to  be 
an  exchange  of  the  Primary  Spheres  held  in  the 
constitution  of  the  balls  in  Fig.  A  for  those  P.  S. 
that  make  up  the  aggregation  of  void  matter  sur- 
rounding the  balls. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  the  Hypothesis  of  Propo- 
sition XIII,  B.  3,  is  a  correct  statement  of  the 
fundamental  Law  of  Life  and  action. 

Then  there  will  be  neither  gain  nor  loss  in  uni- 
versal space  occupied,  by  an  exchange  of  P.  S.  in 
any  substance  undergoing  a  change  in  the  process 
of  life,  the  same  number  of  P*  S.  will  constitute 
the  Mass  of  the  substance. 

And  apparently  there  is  nothing  gained  by  sub- 
stituting an  occult  life,  of  a  substance  acted  upon 
by  gravity,  for  an  occult  power  of  attraction;  and 
this  would  seem  to  be  implied  in  a  theory  that 
gravity  is  the  result  of  a  continuous  change  in 
all  substance. 

But  an  occult  identical  life  of  any  material  form 
is  impossible  (Prop.  XXIV,  B.  2)  and  the  process 
of  life  in  identical  material  substance  is  a  mechan- 
ical result  of  universal,  infinite  life.  (Prop. 
XXVII,  B.  2.) 

Therefore,  there  is  no  flow  of  void  material 
137 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

because  of  the  change  in  the  process  of  life,  but  life 
and  change  and  manifestation  of  Force  are  the 
result  of  a  Constant  Flow  of  void  Material  from 
the  Infinite  to  the  Infinite. 

And  this  flow  of  void  material  cannot  penetrate 
atoms,  but  must  either  take  the  atoms  along  in 
the  general  current,  or  pass  around  the  atoms,  or 
dismember  them. 

It  seems  as  if  the  mechanical  necessity  of  what- 
ever change  is  going  on  in  material  substance  ought 
to  be  capable  of  being  demonstrated  geometrically, 
when  that  change  is  the  result  of  the  movement  of 
void  matter  encountering  created  forms. 

But  certainly  there  is  no  universal  space  added 
or  taken  up  where  there  is  neither  decrease  nor 
increase  of  Mass. 

And  yet  somewhere  in  the  material  Universe 
there  must  be,  simultaneous  in  two  organized 
bodies,  an  increase  of  Mass  in  one,  and  a  decrease 
of  Mass  in  the  other. 

We  cannot  detect  any  increase  in  Mass  in  the 
balls  of  Fig.  A.  Neither  can  we  observe  an  in- 
crease in  the  Mass  of  our  Earth.  But  in  the  ex- 
plosion of  various  substances  there  seems  to  be  a 
total  decomposition  into  void  matter;  and  in  the 
case  of  meteors  there  seems  to  be  an  increase  of 
Mass  out  of  void  matter. 

And  while  gravity  undoubtedly  furnishes  the 
stable  background  for  all  other  manifestations  of 
force,  yet  these  other  forces  are  stronger  than 
Gravity. 

138 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

Because  of  Gravity  we  walk,  and  yet  every  step 
lifts  our  weight  in  spite  of  Gravity. 

And  while  the  action  of  Gravity  in  the  pendulum 
seems  to  argue  a  definite  swiftness  in  the  current 
that  causes  gravity,  it  is  still  evident  that  other 
currents  of  the  same  void  material  may  by  some 
other  cause  proceed  in  a  contrary  direction,  or  if 
in  the  same  direction  move  faster  or  slower. 

But  if  Gravity  is  an  occult  attraction,  battling 
with  other  occult  powers  for  mastery,  there  is  the 
endless  mythology  of  human  imagining. 

While  Newton  advanced  no  theory  of  the  cause 
of  gravity  and  professed  himself  ignorant  of  its 
real  nature,  yet  Newton  held  light  and  heat  to 
be  caused  by  a  flow  of  material  of  some  kind. 

And  because  there  is  no  increase  of  mass  in 
bodies  through  heat  or  light,  Newton's  theories 
regarding  them  have  been  rejected.  And  motion 
has  been  set  up  as  the  cause  of  nearly  every- 
thing. 

Yet  there  can  be  no  motion  where  there  is  no 
material  to  move,  and  motion  can  be  made  in  plenty 
without  apparently  conveying  any  force. 

But  even  our  kinetic  theories  have  not  been  ex- 
tended to  Gravity,  and  all  that  is  known  may  be 
summed  up  in  the  German  phrase,  "Es  ist  halt 
amal  so." 

And  yet  we  may  clearly  perceive  that  there  are 
certain  factors  which  make  up  the  sum  of  gravity. 

First  and  foremost,  there  is  a  flow  of  void  ma- 
terial. 

139 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

Second,  there  are  a  vast  number  of  living  identi- 
ties. 

Third,  there  is  a  constant  transmission  of  force 
between  these  identities  other  than  gravitation. 

Fourth,  every  one  of  these  force  transmissions 
is  connected  with  time  and  distance. 

Fifth,  Gravity  also  is  connected  with  time  and 
distance,  and  therefore  it  must  work,  not  as  oc- 
cult powers  which  cannot  be  connected  with  time 
and  distance,  but  through  intervening  material 
particles. 

And  somehow  or  other  the  reason  of  living  iden- 
tities rejecting  one  set  of  Primary  Spheres  em- 
braced in  a  group  of  twelve  atoms,  and  one  atom 
after  another  dying  in  the  process  of  life,  to  be 
immediately  replaced  by  another  atom  built  up 
of  a  fresh  set  of  P.  S.,  must  be  ultimately  con- 
nected with  time.  If  we  could  imagine  that  Pri- 
mary Spheres  could  be  held  in  the  constitution  of 
Substances  for  a  definitely  limited  time  only,  then 
we  would  concede  in  substances,  or  to  the  Primary 
Spheres  at  least,  an  occult  life.  But  life  is  not  an 
occult  identity,  but  a  result  of  changing  material, 
and  identical  life  cannot  set  beginning  nor  end  of 
its  own  existence. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  all  living  identities  must 
continually  exchange  the  P.  S.  of  which  they  are 
composed,  and  let  it  be  granted  that  the  Alternate 
Hypothesis  is  a  correct  theory  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  Exchange  takes  place.  (Prop.  XIII, 
B.  3.) 

140 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

Then  because  all  substance  is  built  up  of  P.  S. 
(Prop.  XIX,  B.  1)  ; 

And  the  change  of  void  matter  into  organized 
Matter  provides  more  room,  while  the  change  of 
organized  Matter  into  void  matter  requires  more 
room  (Prop.  XX,  B.  1), 

Therefore,  the  dismemberment  and  reorganiza- 
tion must  be  simultaneous  in  the  Universe,  and  in 
any  identity  wherein  it  takes  place.  (Axiom  3.) 

Again,  because  every  change  of  organized  bodies 
in  that  which  constitutes  their  organization  must 
be  particle  by  particle,  therefore  every  change  in 
organization  requires  time.  (Prop.  XV,  B.  2.) 

Therefore,  any  current  of  void  spheres  effecting 
a  change  in  organized  substances  must  be  checked 
up  in  velocity.  (Theorem.) 

This  is  in  a  manner  illustrated  by  every  current 
of  wind  and  water.  If  two  floats  are  suspended 
by  a  long  string,  in  a  current  side  by  side,  some 
distance  apart,  the  current  will  soon  make  them 
come  together.  Or  if  two  floats  are  connected  by  a 
string  and  turned  adrift,  down  an  even  current, 
one  ahead  of  the  other,  they  will  soon  be  together. 

Then  under  the  alternate  Hypothesis  any  organ- 
ized body  of  material,  anywhere  in  the  Universe, 
must  lessen  the  velocity  of  the  alternate  flow  in 
its  vicinity.  But  this  checking  up  cannot  alter 
the  normal  velocity  of  a  universal  current  (normal 
to  that  vicinity)  any  more  than  a  boat  anchored 
in  the  Mississippi  will  govern  the  amount  of  water 
discharged  by  the  river.  Evidently  then  when 
141 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

there  is  a  checking  of  the  normal  velocity  by  the 
obstruction  offered  by  the  body,  there  is  at  the 
same  time,  in  close  proximity,  also  an  increase  of 
velocity  over  the  normal. 

And  this  abnormality  produces  the  necessary 
inequality  between  bodies  suspended  in  the  alter- 
nate Current.  Let  Fig.  B  illustrate  the  working 
of  an  alternate  Current  in  plane  layers  obstructed 
by  the  bodies  a  and  &.  Let  the  arrows  indicate  the 
direction  of  the  alternate  current.  Then  it  is  plain 
that  there  will  be  created  a  real  tendency  for  the 
body  a  and  6  to  come  together;  not  an  occult  at- 
traction, but  a  mechanical  necessity. 

And  however  many  bodies  may  be  concerned  in 
obstructing  a  universal  alternate  Current,  they 
must  each  and  every  one  produce  this  tendency. 
And  while  an  infinite  stream  of  Primary  Spheres 
cannot  be  conceived,  or  brought  into  any  normality 
of  time  and  distance,  still  in  its  operation  between 
material  identities  in  the  Universe  it  must  be  nor- 
mal to  any  solar  system,  and  in  fact  to  the  vicinity 
of  any  separate  body. 

The  increase  of  the  intensity  of  gravity  after 
the  inverse  square,  by  reduction  of  distance,  is  not 
at  all  contrary  to  the  foregoing  theory  of  gravity. 
For  the  displacement  is  not  directly  between  the 
two  or  more  bodies  concerned,  but  rather  it  is  a 
secondary  effect  of  the  greater  displacement  of  a 
normal  universal  displacement. 

And  so  an  ever-present  normal  current  can  pro- 
duce various  motions  by  displacement  that  are  per- 
142 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

haps  contrary  in  direction;  even  a  steady  flowing 
stream  can,  by  the  obstructions  placed  within  it, 
drive  a  chip  in  any  direction,  even  upstream. 

PROPOSITION   XVI. 

The  cohesion  of  the  particles  of  a  substance  is  a 
direct  result  of  the  reproduction  of  atoms  by 
an  universal  Current  of  void  matter,  and  of 
the  interlocking  of  particles  in  solid  sub- 
stances. 

Cohesion  is  that  quality,  pertaining  to  certain 
states  and  forms  of  matter,  which  unites  the  several 
particles  into  one  homogeneous  whole.  And  the 
generally  accepted  idea  is  that  it  is  inherent  in  the 
particles,  an  attraction  of  one  particle  for  another. 
It  is  stated  that  cohesion  works  at  innnitesimally 
small  distances  only,  distances  so  small  that  sci- 
ence can  determine  next  to  nothing  about  them. 

The  particles  that  do  cohere  are  not  the  atoms 
only,  but  in  a  greater  measure  the  organizations 
of  higher  degrees. 

That  cohesion  is  not  a  family  affinity,  or  liking 
of  one  particle  for  another  of  the  same  elementary 
substance,  is  plainly  proven  by  the  well-known  fact 
that  substances  elementary  different,  by  being 
brought  together  by  fusion,  exhibit  more  cohesion 
than  either  substance  by  itself.  There  is  no  abso- 
lute measurement  of  cohesion.  Cohesion  does  not 
in  that  sense  pertain  to  mass  that  gravity  does. 
144 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

We  cannot  measure  cohesion  by  mass,  or  mass 
by  cohesion. 

Taking  for  granted  that  the  attraction  theory  is 
correct,  it  would  seem  that  the  closer  particles 
were  brought  together,  the  greater  would  be  their 
power  of  cohesion.  Such,  however,  is  not  always 
the  case. 

For  while  the  withdrawal  of  heat  always  brings 
the  particles  of  substances  closer  together,  it  does 
not  always  increase  their  power  of  cohesion. 

Iron,  wood,  steel  and  glass  and  numerous  sub- 
stances will  show  more  cohesion  at  a  hundred  de- 
grees of  heat  than  at  zero.  Particularly  does  glass 
in  a  semi-liquid  or  viscid  state  show  more  power 
of  cohesion  than  in  any  other  state. 

It  is  apparent  that  cohesion  cannot  be  consid- 
ered as  amenable  to  the  inverse  square  or  cube. 

Our  notions  of  hardness,  of  temper,  of  ductile 
strength,  and  capacity  to  resist  crushing  strain, 
are  more  or  less  hazy  and  mixed  up. 

And  the  laws  and  formulas  governing  strength 
of  material  are  arbitrary  and  uncertain. 

The  thousand  and  one  problems,  growing  out 
of  a  consideration  of  cohesion,  can  never  be  solved 
under  the  Hypothesis  that  cohesion  is  the  result  of 
an  occult  attraction.  And  the  data  obtainable  for 
a  study  of  cohesion  is  decidedly  meagre,  for  every 
substance,  and  every  part  of  every  substance,  is  a 
law  unto  itself  in  cohesion.  Then  a  rational  con- 
sideration of  cohesion  can  consist  only  in  a  study 
of  the  forms  of  substances,  and  of  that  which  con- 
145 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

stitutes  and  maintains  form.  Such  consideration 
ought  to  start  with  the  first  degree  of  organiza- 
tion, the  atom.  For  if  the  atom  is  considered  as 
built  up  from  Ions  or  from  Primary  Spheres,  if  it 
is  the  basis  of  subsequent  organizations,  the  Atom 
must  first  possess  cohesion  of  particles,  or  else  there 
cannot  logically  be  any  cohesion  in  that  which  is 
built  up  of  atoms. 

What  then  is  it  that  which  keeps  the  particles 
together  in  the  organization  of  the  Atom  ? 

And  that  cohesion  of  the  particles  of  atoms  is 
paramount  to  any  subsequent  cohesion,  for  in  every 
degree  of  organization  after  the  first,  human  in- 
genuity has  found  means  to  overcome  the  cohesion 
and  reduce  them  to  the  organizations  of  the  atom. 
If  we  are  to  concede  a  primary  Identity  of  atoms 
then  we  must  also  concede  that  force  manifesta- 
tions between  material  identities  are  occult  demon- 
strations. (Prop.  XIX,  B.  1.) 

As  far  as  human  reason  goes  all  change  and  all 
life  is  reproduction ;  and  it  is  the  action  of  infinite 
force  on  finite  forms  alone  that  can  reproduce  these 
forms.  And  as  far  as  unorganized  matter  partici- 
pates in  the  reproduction  of  organized  forms,  the 
void  matter  can  only  participate  through  a  change 
of  position.  (Prop.  XIV,  B.  2.)  Since  the  atom 
is  the  first  degree  of  organization,  it  can  only  un- 
dergo two  changes,  a  change  of  relative  and  posi- 
tive position,  and  dismemberment  into  component 
spheres. 

146 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

A  stream  of  void  matter  going  in  one  direction 
only,  and  encountering  organized  form,  must  un- 
doubtedly produce  a  direct  concentration  of  Mass, 
which  is  evidently  not  the  case. 

A  vibratory  current — that  is,  a  current  reversing 
its  direction  in  a  fixed  time,  might  be  considered, 
but  offers  insurmountable  difficulties. 

But  an  alternate  current  must  disrupt  atoms 
always,  even  if  there  were  only  one  Atom  of  five 
spheres  in  a  place  by  itself.  But  in  that  case 
there  would  be  no  mechanical  necessity  of  repro- 
duction, for  the  sphere  sunk  into  the  cavity  pro- 
duced by  the  conjunction  of  three  spheres  would 
pre-empt  the  space  belonging  to  one  sphere  in  a 
moving  plane  layer,  and  in  rising  up  to  slip  out 
of  the  cavity  it  would  not  crowd  any  other  sphere. 
But  Hydrogen,  from  many  indications  the  first  in 
the  series  of  atoms,  and  composed  of  five  Primary 
Spheres,  is  not  found,  in  any  evolution  of  Chem- 
istry, by  itself,  but  always  in  a  molecule  of  two 
atoms.  While  the  particles  of  a  gaseous  substance 
are  apart  from  one  another  (Prop.  IX,  B.  1),  yet 
in  some  manner  they  are  in  conjunction,  and  we 
cannot  perceive  a  single  atom  of  any  kind.  For 
gases  and  vapors  confined  in  vessels  are  amenable 
to  uniform  laws  of  pressure  and  degrees  of  heat. 
And,  therefore,  the  void  matter  filling  spaces,  be- 
tween the  particles  of  gases  and  vapors,  must  par- 
ticipate in  any  dismemberment  and  reproduction 
of  atoms  in  gases  and  vapors. 
147 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

But  in  any  gas>  and  even  in  liquid  substances, 
the  manifestations  of  cohesion  are  feeble.  Their 
particles  cannot  interlock  (Props.  VII.  and  IX, 
B.  1)  either  in  the  atom  or  in  higher  degrees  of 
organization ;  and  any  intervening  void  matter  has 
apparently  a  chance  to  move  in  a  variety  of  direc- 
tions. 

In  the  solid  state  of  substances,  wherein  cohe- 
sion is  most  strongly  shown,  the  component  atoms 
must  first  be  held  together,  in  the  strongest  bond 
of  cohesion,  before  there  can  be  any  interlocking. 
Because  the  particles  of  a  solid  substance  are  in 
contact  with  one  another  (Prop.  VI,  B.  1),  there- 
fore, when  any  one  atom  is  dismembered,  by  an 
alternate  current,  the  spheres  that  composed  the 
atom  will  require  more  room  and  therefore  will 
prompt  the  organization  of  a  like  number  of 
spheres.  And  evidently  the  process  will  be  re- 
peated throughout  the  whole  substance.  Then 
there  must  be  either  a  general  scattering  out,  of 
liberated  spheres,  against  the  whole  tension  of  the 
Universe,  into  an  infinite  beyond  the  Universe,  or 
there  must  be  produced  a  confinement,  of  the  re- 
production process,  to  the  space  occupied  by  the 
substance. 

This  is  the  true  cohesion,  not  an  occult  attraction 
of  particles,  but  a  mechanical  necessity  produced 
by  an  alternate  current  of  void  matter  encoun- 
tering organized  forms.  And  from  such  encounter 
must  spring  the  variations  of  velocity  in  a  uni- 
versal current  between  organized  Identities. 
148 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

Because  atoms  are  not  round  (Prop.  VI,  B.  1), 
their  pertuberances  and  projections  must  engage 
one  another,  and  again  the  whole  tension  of  the 
Universe  must  prevent  the  scattering  of  identities 
of  the  second  and  farther  degrees  of  organization. 
And  the  more  complex  any  identity  is,  the  greater 
will  be  the  interstices  between  parts  composing  its 
highest  degree  of  complexity,  and,  therefore,  in  a 
greater  degree  subject  to  dismemberment. 

The  study  of  cohesion  from  this  standpoint  offers 
an  enticing  field  for  investigation  and  invention. 
The  tempering  of  steel,  the  annealing  of  glass,  the 
crossing  of  fibres,  all  these  and  many  other  prob- 
lems would  be  greatly  advanced  by  a  true  knowl- 
edge of  the  nature  of  cohesion. 

And  in  the  study  of  heat,  magnetism,  light  and 
electricity  a  knowledge  of  the  form  assumed  by 
atoms  of  elementary  substances  would  be  of  ines- 
timable value. 

Yet  such  knowledge  cannot  be  acquired  under 
the  theory  that  atoms  are  primary  identities,  or 
the  result  of  a  synchronic  dance  of  vibration.  The 
atomic  theory -has  been  of  great  advantage  to  prac- 
tical chemistry  and  has  made  of  it  almost  an 
exact  science. 

A  further  step  would  be  a  recognition  that  the 
forms  of  atoms  are  no  more  similar  than  their 
atomic  weights. 

And  by  successive  approximation,  guided  by 
atomic  weights  and  by  valence  and  periodical  laws, 
a  laying  together  in  closest  contact  of  equal  spheres 
149 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

ought  to  find  the  law  of  series  which  undoubtedly 
underlies  the  increase  of  atoms  from  the  lightest  to 
the  heaviest. 


PROPOSITION   XVII. 

Heat  is  an  increase  of  the  magnitude  of  inter- 
stices between  particles  of  substances,  against 
the  opposition  offered  by  gravity  and  the  inter- 
locking of  solids. 

There  are  many  changes  produced  by  heat  in 
material  around  us,  that  we  may  compare  wit1"1 
each  other,  and  with  changes  produced  in  the  same 
material  by  other  manifestations  of  force. 

The  foremost  of  these  changes  is  the  expansion, 
of  every  known  substance,  by  heat,  and  the  subse- 
quent contraction  by  the  withdrawal  of  heat. 

And  there  is  an  equivalent  between  heat  and 
expansion  so  perfect  that  our  measurement  of  heat 
is  based  upon  it. 

The  theories  of  the  nineteenth  century  have  re- 
duced heat  and  other  forces  to  wave  motion  and 
have  found  a  solution  of  the  mystery  of  the  dif- 
ferences between  the  several  forces  in  the  length 
and  rapidity  of  the  waves. 

But   all  waves  are   composed  of  material,  and 

back  of  the  waves  must  be  the  force  that  moves 

the  waves,  and  the  waves  must  depend  in  length 

of  motion  and  rapidity  of  motion,  not  on  the  waves 

150 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

but  on  that  which  produces  the  pressure  on  one 
side  and  yields  to  the  pressure  on  the  other  side. 

And  a  continuous  transmission  of  force  can  be 
accomplished  only  through  a  continuous  flow  of 
material  from  the  transmitting  to  the  receiving 
body. 

Therefore,  something  must  pass  away,  from  the 
body  that  is  cooling  and  contracting,  and  something 
must  be  added  to  the  body  that  is  expanding  by 
heat. 

And  this  something  must  be  material,  for  if 
force  can  be  added  to  an  identical  body  without 
an  addition  of  material,  then  that  force  is  an  occult 
force,  working  without  material,  and,  therefore, 
beyond  human  reasoning. 

Then  because  that  added  material  does  (Axiom 
1)  not  add  weight  to  the  substance  heated,  it  cannot 
be  organized  material;  it  must  be  void  matter 
which  is  not  incorporated  into  the  constitution  of 
the  heated  body.  Yet  it  is  incorporated  into  the 
bulk  of  the  substance  heated;  and  to  that  extent 
it  must  be  conceded  that  there  is  an  actual  addi- 
tion of  material  to  the  heating  substance.  That 
these  P.  S.  which  are  added  to  a  body  expanding 
by  heat  come  directly  from  a  cooling  body  does  not 
seem  necessary,  when  it  is  considered  that  the 
Universe  is  an  immense  reservoir  of  Primary 
Spheres. 

Evidently  heat  is  a  property  pertaining  to  or- 
ganized matter  only,  for  if  ether  were  capable  of 
being  changed  by  heat — that  is,  heated  up  or  cooled 
151 


MECHANISM   OF   NATURE 

off — all  the  Universe  would  soon  be  of  a  uniform 
temperature.  And  organized  substance  is  influ- 
enced by  heat  only  because  of  its  organization; 
therefore,  a  real  understanding  of  that  organiza- 
tion alone  can  confer  a  full  knowledge  of  the  real 
nature  of  heat. 

All  life  is  manifested  under  a  degree  of  heat ;  we 
can  conceive  of  no  life  under  an  absolute  zero. 

The  changes  produced,  in  material  around  us, 
by  heat  are  of  an  almost  endless  variety;  and  be- 
cause of  the  interlocking  of  solids  and  the  pecu- 
liarity of  form  of  every  substance,  the  passing  of 
heat  from  one  body  to  another  is  often  obscured 
and  seemingly  doubtful. 

Friction,  electricity  and  chemical  combination 
produce  heat ;  we  get  a  notion  that  they  manufac- 
ture it.  But  all  three  produce  light  also  and  other 
forces.  And  if  we  can  look  close  enough  we  will 
probably  find  that  the  bringing  together  of  par- 
ticles, which  these  forces  accomplish  incidentally, 
is  the  origin  of  the  heat  observed. 

As  compared  with  Gravity  and  Inertia,  heat  is 
not  so  strictly  related  to  Mass.  For  although  it 
takes  a  certain  invariable  amount  of  heat  to  raise 
a  given  Mass  of  any  one  substance  through  one 
degree  of  heat,  the  same  amount  of  heat  will  not 
raise  an  equal  Mass  of  another  different  substance 
through  just  one  degree  of  heat. 

It  will  take  more  heat  to  raise  a  pound  of  gran- 
ite through  one  degree  than  is  required  to  raise  a 
pound  of  iron  through  one  degree. 
152 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

Neither  is  the  amount  of  heat  required  to  raise 
a  substance  from  the  freezing  point  of  water  to 
the  point  where  the  substance  is  turned  to  vapor, 
uniform  for  every  degree  of  heat.  The  lighter  a 
gas  the  more  heat  is  required  to  raise  a  given  vol- 
ume, under  equal  pressure,  through  one  degree. 

Therefore,  it  is  apparent  that  the  Mass  of  the 
substance  is  not  all  that  enters  into,  and  is  con- 
cerned in,  the  phenomena  of  heat.  And  the 
changes  produced  in  substances  by  heat  cannot  be 
a  fundamental  change  in  the  Atoms  alone,  although 
based  upon  them,  but  the  changes  must  involve  the 
organizations  of  the  second  degree,  and  farther  on 
in  the  scale  of  organization.  Plainly  we  can  per- 
ceive that  Molecules  are  dismembered  by  heat,  and 
our  ball  of  butter  or  of  lead  will  be  changed  in 
visible  shape  even  by  heat. 

The  particles  of  solids  are  interlocked  and  each 
solid  substance  is  a  law  to  itself  when  it  comes  to 
expansion  by  heat. 

And  liquids  possess  some  degree  of  cohesion  and 
each  identical  liquid  has  some  individuality  under 
expansion  by  heat. 

But  all  gases  and  vapors  expand  at  the  same 
uniform  rate  by  heat,  and  therefore  offer  the  clear- 
est view  of  the  problem  of  the  nature  of  heat. 

Let  Fig.  A  represent  a  metal  Cylinder  B,  with  a 
tightly  fitting  piston  C,  whose  rod  projects  through 
a  hole  of  the  cylinder,  and  with  a  thermometer 
connected  with  the  inside  of  the  cylinder.  Let 
the  Cylinder  be  pumped  full  of  any  gas  or  vapor, 
153 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

through  the  small  stoppered  tube  E.  Let  the  gas 
or  vapor  be  at  any  convenient  temperature,  while 
the  piston  is  down  within  30  1-3  inch  of  the  bottom 
of  the;  Cylinder.  Let  a  constant  pressure  be  exerted 


on  the  piston  through  the  means  of  the  100  Ibs. 
weight.  Then  if  by  means  of  the  basin  of  burn- 
ing charcoal,  or  by  some  better  means,  the  tem- 
perature of  the  gas  is  raised  one  degree,  the  piston 
with  its  constant  pressure  of  100  Ibs.  is  driven  out 
1-9  of  an  inch.  And  this  expansion  (that  is,  1-273 
in  volume)  will  be  constant  under  constant  pres- 
sure, for  every  gas  under  any  degree  of  heat  while 
the  gas  or  vapor  remains  such.  And  reversing  the 
experiment — that  is,  by  increased  pressure  to  re- 
duce the  volume  of  gas  (putting  the  piston  down 
1-9  of  an  inch)  1-273  in  volume — will  raise  any 
gas  or  vapor  through  one  degree  of  heat.  But  the 
increase  of  pressure  required,  while  uniform  for 
154 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

every  gas  or  vapor,  is  not  a  plain  constant  increase 
for  every  successive  degree,  but  an  increase  after 
the  square. 

Then  the  transmission  of  heat,  in  this  experi- 
ment, is  effected  through  a  displacement  of  P.  S. 
of  void  matter  in  plane  layers. 

That  this  is  the  case  becomes  evident  when  it  is 
considered  that  the  particles  of  the  coolest  gas  are 
apart  from  one  another,  and  every  degree  of  heat 
drives  them  farther  apart. 

The  gas  particles,  therefore,  resemble  heavenly 
bodies  in  space,  and  like  them  they  must  be  sur- 
rounded by  void  matter.  Again,  the  amount  of 
heat  required  to  raise  hydrogen  through  one  degree 
under  a  given  pressure  is  not  the  same  as  is  re- 
quired to  raise  the  same  volume  of  Chlorine  under 
equal  pressure  through  one  degree. 

And  because  the  lighter  gas  requires  the  square 
pf  the  proportion  between  them  (that  is,  more  than 
the  heavier  gas),  it  would  seem  as  if  heat  were  an 
exemption  to  the  rule  governing  other  forces  in 
being  able  to  do  more  with  the  same  amount  of 
action  on  a  larger  amount  of  material  than  on  a 
less  quantity. 

But  because  weight  is  the  result  of  the  force 
gravity  working  upon  the  Mass  of  a  substance,  and 
the  Mass  of  any  substance  is  the  number  of  Pri- 
mary Spheres  held  together  in  the  constitution  of 
that  substance;  therefore,  the  heavier  gas  holds 
more  P.  S.  in  organization  than  the  same  volume 
of  a  lighter  gas. 

155 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

But  the  volume  is  made  up  of  organized  matter 
plus  that  amount  of  void  matter  which  fills  the 
interstices,  and  consequently,  if  the  lighter  gas 
volume  holds  less  organized  Atoms,  it  holds  more 
void  matter.  And  whatever  we  deem  the  real 
nature  of  heat  to  be,  this  inflow  of  void  matter 
into  the  interstices  of  a  substance  expanding  by 
heat  gives  the  radical  unit  of  heat.  One  P.  S. 
changed  in  position  from  without  the  substance 
to  within  the  substance. 

The  flow  of  void  matter,  from  the  body  con- 
tracting by  withdrawal  of  heat,  to  the  body  ex- 
panding by  heat  is  a  necessary  result  in  a  Universe 
that  is  full.  Yet  the  mere  change  alone  of  a  Pri- 
mary Sphere  of  void  matter  from  a  position  out- 
side of  a  body  to  within  a  body  cannot  produce  all 
the  phenomena  of  heat. 

Whenever  we  observe  heat  passing  from  one 
body  or  substance  to  another,  we  may  also  observe 
a  resistance  to  the  necessary  expansion.  And  that 
resistance  is  as  much  a  part  of  the  nature  of  heat 
as  is  the  expansion.  If  it  were  not,  heat  would 
be  like  gravity,  producing  equal  results  on  equal 
masses.  But  what  is  that  resistance  ? 

In  the  experiment  illustrated  by  Fig.  A  there 
are  no  gas  particles  added  by  the  added  heat. 

Neither  is  it  possible  to  crowd  in  more  void  mat- 
ter, for  the  Cylinder  is  full  of  gas  and  void  matter. 
Then  the  pressure  must  come  from  without  the  Cyl- 
inder; and  the  resistance  to  that  pressure  is  evi- 
dently in  the  solidity  of  the  cylinder,  for  nothing 
156 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

else  hinders  the  gas  particles  to  spread  out  indefi- 
nitely. 

The  interlocking  of  the  particles  of  solid  sub- 
stances presents  an  obstacle  or  a  resistance  to  ex- 
pansion by  heat  or  any  other  possible  expan- 
sion. 

The  action  of  gravity  tends  to  force  solids,  liquid 
and  gases  toward  a  common  centre  of  gravity,  and, 
therefore,  gravity  resists  the  expansion  by  heat, 
and  because  of  that  even  a  gas  surrounded  by  void 
matter  only  can  be  made  hotter  or  colder. 

Why  do  the  Primary  Spheres  expelled  from  a 
cooling  body  force  their  way  into  the  interstices 
of  another  body  to  heat  it  ? 

There  is  apparently  nothing  to  prevent  the  ex- 
pelled P.  S.  to  immediately  take  up  their  place  on 
the  outside  of  the  body  from  which  they  have  been 
forced,  for  in  the  act  of  driving  out  the  Spheres 
of  void  matter  there  occurs  an  equivalent  contrac- 
tion of  the  organized  substance,  so  that  there  is 
neither  gain  nor  loss  of  universal  space  in  the 
whole  operation. 

Yet  there  must  be  something  that  compels  Pri- 
mary Spheres  to  move  on,  some  mechanical  neces- 
sity that  is  the  result  of  a  fundamental  universal 
requirement.  This  compulsion  to  move  on  and 
away  cannot  well  be  conceded  to  be  an  inherent 
quality  of  Primary  Spheres,  but  rather  it  must  be 
a  necessary  result  of  a  universal  movement  from 
the  Infinite  to  the  Infinite. 

And  perhaps  it  is  this  mysterious  link  alone  that 
157 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

can  ever  reconcile  the  contradictions  that  confront 
our  reason. 

If  we  may  take  it  for  granted  that  there  is  a 
material  movement  from  some  great  body,  that  is 
now  changing  from  organized  matter  to  void  mat- 
ter, to  some  other  great  body  that  is  now  changing 
void  matter  into  its  own  organization,  then  we  may 
conceive  a  compulsion  of  void  matter  to  move  from 
one  to  the  other,  and  never  backwards.  And  every 
living  identity  encountered  by  this  stream  must 
then  be  affected  by  it. 

In  the  action  of  the  Radiometer  is  indicated  a 
constant  stream  of  material  particles,  flowing  from 
the  cooling  and  contracting  substance  to  the  sub- 
stance that  is  being  heated.  And  the  Radiometer 
keeps  on  turning  in  one  direction  like  a  similar 
wind  engine.  There  is  then  no  indication  of  a 
back  and  forth  vibration  such  as  would  be  ex- 
pected from  popular  heat  waves.  Neither  can  it 
be  denied  that  there  must  be  a  flow  of  ether  from 
the  cooling  body  and  an  influx  into  the  expanding 
body.  Yet  there  may  be,  even  in  an  overflowing 
Stream,  periodical  changes  of  velocity,  thereby 
making  the  action  of  the  stream  uneven  and  wave- 
like. 

The  heat  coming  to  us  from  the  Sun  can  come 
only  as  a  result  of  a  pressure  on  the  whole  aggre- 
gation of  Primary  Spheres  between  us  and  the  sun. 
And  the  same  pressure  on  the  same  intervening 
material  is  all  that  can  bring  light  or  anything 
else  to  us  from  the  Sun.  For  the  intervening  void 
158 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

matter  can  suffer  no  change  except  a  change  of 
position  of  the  individual  Spheres. 

Wherein  then  does  heat  differ  from  light  or 
from  any  other  manifestation  of  force  ? 

All  are  at  last  the  result  of  the  one  universal 
force  causing  a  displacement  of  material  parts. 
And,  moreover,  all  are  based  upon  and  relative  to 
that  general  movement  of  void  matter  in  the 
process  of  universal  life. 

Always  a  manifestation  of  force  is  between  two 
bodies;  always  one  gives  and  the  other  receives. 
And  the  body  that  gives  must  exert  a  pressure, 
and  the  body  that  receives  must  within  it  have 
something  that  yields.  Therefore,  heat  cannot  go 
two  ways,  or  in  opposite  directions  at  once,  and 
our  body  cannot  give  heat  to  the  stove  while  the 
stove  is  transmitting  heat  to  us. 

And  while  magnetism  directly  causes  a  contrac- 
tion of  the  steel  that  is  magnetized,  yet  there  seems 
to  be  no  available  data  to  disprove  a  supposition 
that  heat  is  evolved  in  the  process. 

Chemical  action  brings  the  particles  of  sub- 
stances closer  together,  and  always  there  is  heat 
accompanying  or  caused  by  the  process.  Electricity 
and  light  produce  heat  in  the  substances  acted  upon 
most  generally.  But  they  evidently  also  cause 
other  changes  which  are  their  distinct  ear-marks. 

But  the  expansion  of  substances  by  an  inflow 
of  void  matter,  under  the  pressure  'exerted  upon 
the  void  matter  by  a  cooling  body  that  is  con- 
tracting, this  seems  to  be  the  real  essence  of  heat. 
159 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

And  the  expansion  is  always  against  the  action 
of  gravity,  and  to  some  extent  against  the  resist- 
ance offered  by  the  interlocking  of  solid  substances. 
Yet  the  most  solid  substance  can  interlock  only  as 
far  as  some  result  of  the  process  of  life  holds  so 
many  Primary  Spheres  together  in  such  a  peculiar 
form. 

But  why  does  it  take  a  greater  amount  of  heat 
to  produce,  in  the  Cylinder  of  Fig.  A,  a  given 
pressure  through  a  volume  of  Hydrogen  than 
through  an  equal  volume  of  Chlorine  ? 

It  is  not  that  the  atoms  of  either  of  the  gases 
are  expanded  or  altered,  and  both  are  held  in  the 
same  Cylinder,  which  is  equally  hot  in  both  cases. 
And  the  atoms  of  each  gas  are  apart  from  one 
another  and  surrounded  by  exactly  similar  Primary 
Spheres  of  void  matter. 

Evidently  the  greater  mass  of  the  chlorine  offers 
a  greater  resistance,  and  it  can  do  this  only  when 
there  is  in  both  gases  a  continual  change.  The 
lighter  gas  atoms  must  needs  be  smaller  than  the 
atoms  of  the  heavier  gas. 

Therefore,  the  atoms  of  Hydrogen  are  farther 
removed  from  one  another,  and  their  influence, 
which  alone  can  make  the  pressure  observed,  is 
exerted  at  a  greater  distance;  and  evidently  in 
plane  layers  the  Spheres  of  void  matter  participate 
in  the  diffusion  of  that  pressure. 

If  heat  were  a  vibration  only,  then  we  would 
have  in  the  increase  after  the  square,  of  the  pres- 
160 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

sure  exerted  by  heated  gases  in  the  experiments 
of  Fig.  A,  a  total  contradiction  of  the  observed 
laws  of  bodies  in  motion.  For  the  relative  energy 
or  force  required  to  move  bodies  is  strictly  in  the 
simple  relation  of  their  Mass. 

The  arrangement  of  particles,  of  higher  degrees 
than  the  first,  undoubtedly  makes  the  great  differ- 
ence in  solid  bodies  under  a  manifestation  of  heat. 
There  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  the  particles  of 
solids  are  grouped  in  any  certain  invariable  order, 
in  plane  layers  or  other  arrangement.  The  melt- 
ing points  of  alloys  are  most  always  different  from 
a  mean  of  their  several  melting  points ;  sometimes 
lower  than  the  lowest  in  the  compound. 

But  because  liquids  have  a  great  freedom  of 
movement  in  the  physical  interchange  of  particles, 
while  yet  all  liquids  exhibit  more  or  less  cohesion, 
it  seems  certain  that  particles  of  liquids  are  ar- 
ranged in  plane  layers,  wherein  they  touch  one 
another. 

And  because  there  is  yet  a  great  radical  expan- 
sion in  changing  liquids  to  gases  and  vapors,  the 
latter  two  must  be  apart  even  in  the  layers. 

From  wind  and  wave,  from  wireless  telegraphy 
and  many  other  indications  it  seems  altogether 
probable  that  the  layers  of  liquids  and  gases  are 
normally  arranged  at  right  angles  to  a  line  drawn 
from  them  to  the  centre  of  the  earth. 

Where  there  is  a  great  mass  held  together  by 
gravity  and  interlocking,  like  our  earth  as  a  whole, 
161 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

the  renewal  of  atoms  at  the  centre  must  be,  com- 
paratively, very  slow.  This  would  hold  true  even 
if  the  vibration  theory  of  heat  were  true. 

There  can  hardly  be  any  further  contraction  of 
particles  at  the  centre  of  a  great  Mass. 

What  then  is  the  temperature  of  this  innermost 
part  of  a  great  mass?  In  order  for  this  question 
to  be  decided  it  must  first  be  decided  what  heat 
is.  If  it  is  an  occult  identity,  an  identity  now 
residing  in  one  mass  of  substance  and  now  in  an- 
other, stored  up  for  ages  in  this  material  or  that, 
of  its  own  inherent  potency,  producing  waves  of 
invariable  length  and  frequency,"  then  such  an 
occult  power  may  be  imagined  to  reside  one 
place  as  well  as  another.  And  under  this  theory  of 
heat  the  centre  of  the  earth  is  deemed  to  be  in- 
tensely hot. 

But  if  heat  is  an  abstract  identity,  a  human  con- 
ception of  a  certain  class  of  changes  in  material 
only,  then  nowhere  can  heat  reside  as  an  identity 
in  its  own  right. 

Only  as  change  do  we  know  heat,  and  the  in- 
tensity of  its  manifestation  is  dependent  on  the 
degree  of  difference  in  the  two  bodies  between 
whom  it  is  manifested,  and  on  the  rapidity  with 
which  they  may  undergo  changes  in  cellular  con- 
struction. 

There  cannot  be  any  latent  heat,  or  latent  force 

of  any  kind;  force  cannot  be  asleep  or  employed 

elsewhere;   an   eternal   change   only   can   produce 

universal  motion.     And  without  movement  there 

162 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

cannot  be  a  manifestation  of  force.      (Prop.  VI, 
B.  3.) 

Therefore,  this  manifestation  of  force  known  to 
us  as  heat,  and  whose  main  feature  is  a  movement 
of  ether  particles  from  a  cooling  body  into  the 
interstices  of  a  body  being  heated,  this  cannot  be 
going  on  at  the  centre  of  the  earth;  therefore,  the 
centre  of  the  earth  is  devoid  of  any  movement  of 
particles  caused  by  heat;  the  temperature  is  abso- 
lute zero. 

If  a  shaft  could  be  constructed  from  the  outer- 
most confines  of  the  Atmosphere  to  the  Centre  of 
the  earth  and  the  rarified  air  brought  as  it  is,  to  the 
centre  of  the  earth,  then  there  would  undoubtedly 
be  a  great  display  of  heat.  Always  a  manifesta- 
tion of  heat  requires  an  inequality ;  when  two 
things  are  equally  hot  there  will  then  be  no  mani- 
festation of  heat  between  them.  So  if  it  can  be 
proven  that  all  things  on  earth  are  getting  to  be 
more  and  more  equalized  in  temperature,  then  heat 
is  getting  less  on  earth,  for  heat  is  the  manifestation 
of  heat. 

Yet  inequality  of  density  is  not  necessarily  in- 
equality of  temperature  between  relative  sub- 
stances, and  this  is  very  hard  to  reconcile  with  the 
theory  that  heat  is  the  result  of  a  universal  tension 
equalizing  a  difference  in  density.  But  a  hundred- 
fold harder  it  is  to  reconcile  this  with  the  accepted 
vibration  theory  of  heat. 

A  thread  of  glass  may  be  drawn  out  so  fine  that 
a  naked  eye  may  scarcely  perceive  it.     And  yet  it 
163 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

will  preserve  its  identity  for  a  long  time,  subject 
to  changes  of  temperature  and  light  and  electricity 
and  cohesive  strain,  sound  vibration  and  magnetic 
penetration  and  numerous  other  vibrations  perhaps 
all  at  the  same  time.  Still,  in  the  vibration  theory, 
nothing  holds  the  particles  of  glass  together  in  this 
mere  line  of  a  thread  than  just  a  set  of  vibrations 
among  a  thousand.  Shall  it  be  said  that  our  dull 
ears  can  hear  a  sweet  clear  note  among  a  thousand 
noises  ?  Then  shall  a  thousand  ears  distinguish  the 
same  note,  and  if  perhaps  it  be  a  dinner  bell,  a 
thousand  stomachs  shall  recognize  the  call  ? 

So  these  same  Ions  that  are  outside  of  the  mere 
line  of  the  Glass  thread,  alike  to  them  that  com- 
pose the  glass,  why  shall  not  they  be  affected  in  the 
same  synchrony  ? 

There  is  without  doubt  a  very  radical  difference 
in  the  arrangements  of  the  particles  of  solids  and 
of  the  same  substance  in  a  gaseous  state.  No  syn- 
chronic  vibration  in  the  molecules  of  gases  makes 
a  difference  in  the  confined  gases  or  vapors  in  the 
cylinder  of  Fig.  A. 

All  gases  and  all  vapors  and  all  mixtures  of 
them  act  the  same.  And  density  only  determines 
the  degree  of  heat.  That  heat  exerts  a  pressure, 
this  argues  that  there  is  a  tendency  of  heat  to  pass 
from  one  thing  to  another.  That  such  tendency  is 
counteracted  by  gravity  and  hindered  by  the  inter- 
locking of  particles  in  solids  is  proven  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  earth. 

In  every-day  experience  we  know  that  it  takes 
164 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

time  to  heat  anything.  Our  water  must  circulate 
and  be  heated  particle  by  particle;  our  Stovelifter 
stays  cool  on  one  end  for  a  long  time  while  the 
other  end  is  already  hot.  Therefore,  we  know  all 
bodies  must  be  affected  by  heat  one  particle  after 
another.  And  while  they  are  thus  affected  by  heat, 
they  are  at  the  same  time  affected  by  other  forces. 
The  centre  of  the  earth,  unaffected  by  changes  of 
heat,  is  also  unaffected  by  centrifugal  force. 

But  in  ever  widening  circle  centrifugal  force 
increases  in  intensity;  the  centre  does  not  move 
at  all  (relatively),  and  the  circumference  more 
than  a  thousand  miles  an  hour.  And  such  increase 
is  in  plain  relation  to  distance. 

Gravity,  on  the  other  hand,  diminishes  in  ever 
widening  circle  from  the  centre  of  the  earth;  yet 
such  decrease  is  not  in  plain  relation  to  distance, 
but  after  the  inverse  square.  Therefore,  momen- 
tum is  more  directly  connected  with  universal  force 
(the  alternate  current)  than  gravity  is.  And  the 
utmost  rim  of  the  earth  can  be  little  or  not  at  all 
changed  by  heat;  it  may  be  deemed  an  absolute 
Zero.  It  is  between  the  Zero  of  the  centre  and  the 
Zero  of  the  circumference  of  the  earth  that  mani- 
festations of  heat  are  displayed,  and  more  par- 
ticularly at  the  junction  of  the  solid  earth  and  the 
gaseous  Atmosphere. 

As  far  as  any  influence  or  radiation  or  trans- 
ference of  heat  from  one  heavenly  body  to  another 
is  concerned  there  can  only  be  one  change  take 
place  between  them;  that  is  a  change  in  the  veloc- 
165 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

ity  of  an  ever-flowing  current,  ever  going  and  com- 
ing from  one  to  the  other  in  alternate  layers. 

And  in  reality  this  is  all  that  heat  can  be  be- 
tween bodies  anywhere.  In  a  great  river  there 
may  be  many  obstructions.  And  each  one  will  do 
its  quota  to  check  the  velocity  of  the  stream.  And 
each  one  will  modify  and  influence  the  action  of 
the  current  on  the  others,  so  that  the  swirling 
waters  may  even  run  upstream.  And  so  do 
gravity  and  momentum  and  heat  and  all  other 
forces  change  an  ever-flowing  universal  current 
that  is  yet  the  superior,  the  moving  and  creating 
cause  of  all  these  manifestations. 


PROPOSITION   XVIII. 

Magnetism  is  the  result  of  the  quickening  of  the 
stream  of  Primary  Spheres,  necessary  for  the 
renewal  of  Atom,  on  one  end  of  a  substance; 
and  a  corresponding  retarding  of  that  Stream 
on  the  other  end  of  the  same  body. 

Magnetism  is  that  peculiar  property  possessed  by 
a  few  substances  which  enables  them  to  attract 
some  other  substance.  And  it  is  a  common  prac- 
tice to  call  any  manifestation  of  attraction  mag- 
netism. And  attraction  is  a  tendency  to  come 
together  when  the  compelling  pressure  is  not  per- 
ceived. 

If  the   magnetism    about   which   we   desire    in- 

166 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

formation  is  an  inherent  quality  of  any  substance, 
or  of  the  atoms  composing  a  substance,  there  is 
then  no  hope  of  ever  learning  the  real  nature  of 
magnetism. 

And  if  the  power  of  the  magnet  to  attract  can 
be  exerted  on  another  substance  without  there 
being  any  intervening  material  to  take  part  in 
the  attraction,  then  that  power  to  attract  is  an 
occult  power,  without  the  circle  of  human  rea- 
soning. 

But  magnetism  may  be  induced  in  steel  that 
shows  no  previous  magnetism,  and  with  the  help 
of  substances  that  are  not  themselves  magnetic; 
therefore,  magnetism  is  not  an  inherent  quality  of 
substances,  but  an  acquired  condition.  And  be- 
cause the  power  of  any  magnet  to  attract  is  di- 
minished after  the  square,  by  the  increase  of  dis- 
tance between  the  magnet  and  the  substance  upon 
which  it  acts,  therefore,  magnetism  is  transmitted 
through  void  matter  in  plane  layers.  (Prop.  XII, 
B.  3.) 

Magnetism  is  closely  related  to  Gravity  and  many 
laws  are  common  to  both.  Yet  magnetism  does  not 
show  a  strict  relation  to  mass;  a  magnet  weighing 
a  pound  may  be  weak  or  comparatively  strong,  but 
it  seems  as  if  it  were  impossible  to  make  a  magnet 
capable  of  lifting  more  than  the  weight  of  all  the 
material  taking  part  in  the  action  of  the  magnet. 

Then  because  magnetism  is  not  manifested  in 
strict  relation  to  Mass,  it  is  evident  that  it  is  not 
a  quality,  condition  or  engagement  involving  the 
167 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

organization  of  the  first  degree  only.  For  any- 
thing that  pertains  to  an  atom  as  an  atom,  making 
part  of  its  form  or  life  or  constitution,  must  per- 
tain to  the  atom  through  any  and  every  higher 
degree  of  organization  that  the  atom  may  enter 
into  with  others.  Therefore,  because  magnetism, 
unlike  gravity  and  Inertia,  takes  part  in  changes 
that  a  magnetic  substance  undergoes  as  a  sub- 
stance, it  is  something  that  pertains  to  degrees  of 
organization  higher  than  the  first  degree.  And 
neither  form  nor  constitutional  requirements  of 
atoms  are  changed  by  magnetism. 

What  then  is  the  change  a  bar  of  steel  under- 
goes when  it  becomes  magnetic  ? 

The  only  outward  change  is  a  contraction  of  the 
bar.  But  cooling  also  causes  a  contraction,  with- 
out causing  magnetism,  and  heat  will  destroy  the 
magnetism  of  the  bar  in  expanding  it. 

While  the  addition  of  magnetic  quality  to  the 
Steel  bar  does  not  increase  the  Mass,  as  is  proven 
by  weight  (Axiom  4),  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the 
bar  is  changed.  And  moving  the  bar  toward  either 
pole  of  the  earth  will  again  change  the  Centre  of 
gravity  of  the  bar. 

Evidently,  then,  while  the  atoms  of  the  Steel  are 
ever  affected,  and  affected  alike,  by  the  general 
universal  current  acting  upon  them  as  organized 
forms  in  the  changes  of  the  process  of  life,  thero 
is  a  further  effect  of  the  same  universal  stream, 
complicated  through  the  organizations  of  a  higher 
degree  than  are  the  atoms. 
168 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

Even  as  a  man  may  be  affected  as  a  citizen  of  a 
State  while  his  own  affairs  do  not  affect  the  State ; 
and  yet  he  is  a  citizen  only  because  he  is  a  man, 
and  after  all  the  whole  State  is  based  on  his  man- 
hood. 

Every  higher  degree  of  organization  is  based 
upon  a  preceding  degree,  and  the  form  and  con- 
stitution, and  that  which  constitutes,  an  identity 
of  a  low  degree,  cannot  be  annulled  or  done  away 
with  in  the  organization  of  a  higher  degree. 

The  identity  of  the  man  is  still  in  the  State. 
The  form  of  the  atom  of  gold  is  still  in  the  double 
eagle.  And  in  the  substance  magnetized  there  are 
still  the  atoms  unimpaired  in  form  or  constitutional 
requirements. 

Every  manifestation  of  force  is  a  mechanical  dis- 
placement of  material  parts.  (Prop.  XXI,  B.  2.) 

Magnetism  is  a  displacement  of  void  matter  in 
plane  layers.  (Prop.  XII,  B.  3.) 

The  magnetizing  of  substances  is  essentially  a 
mechanical  process,  whether  accomplished  through 
the  strokes  or  contact  of  a  permanent  magnet,  or 
through  the  subtle  influence  of  an  electrified  spiral. 

And  it  is  evident  that  there  occurs,  in  the  sub- 
stance magnetized,  a  rearrangement  of  particles 
relative  to  one  another. 

Magnetism  is  induced  in  the  steel  by  tension,  or 
by  blows  upon  the  end  of  a  steel  bar,  held  in  a 
particular  position  relative  to  the  earth's  centre 
and  magnetic  meridian. 

And  from  most,  or  perhaps  all,  phenomena  per- 
169 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

taining  to  magnetism,  it  appears  that  the  change 
which  a  substance  undergoes  in  acquiring  magnet- 
ism is  a  rearrangement  of  the  organizations  of  the 
third  degree  within  the  substance.  And  after  this 
rearrangement  the  currents  of  void  matter,  which 
are  always  necessary  in  the  fundamental  life  of  the 
substance  and  pertaining  to  the  atoms,  are  switched 
into  an  altered  course,  or  modified  in  velocity  as 
to  one  part  of  the  magnetized  substance  and  an- 
other part  or  end  of  the  substance. 

For  a  perfect  sphere  or  ring  of  steel  may  not 
be  made  into  a  permanent  magnet;  there  is  no 
magnetism  without  polarity. 

And  this  polarity,  which  furnishes  the  most  use- 
ful employment  for  magnetism,  is  at  the  same  time 
inexplicable  under  any  material  Hypothesis,  unless 
there  is  some  sort  of  a  current  of  void  matter 
flowing,  in  an  established  direction  relative  to  the 
earth,  which  engages  the  magnet. 

That  the  magnet  is  thus  engaged  by  a  stream  of 
void  matter  is  indicated  by  the  action  of  the  mag- 
netic needle  in  ranging  itself  parallel  to  an  elec- 
tric current,  whatever  direction  that  current  may 
flow  in. 

And  it  seems  that  a  compass  within  a  Glass  jar, 
from  which  all  the  air  has  been  exhausted,  ought 
to  be  influenced  by  heat  passing  through  the  vacu- 
um from  a  source  of  heat  to  a  recipient  of  heat. 

And  as  well  as  the  magnet  must  be  influenced 
by  any  and  every  stream  of  void  matter,  so  must 
any  and  every  substance  be  influenced  by  such  a 
170 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

stream.  But  because  of  difference  of  form  of  the 
different  atoms,  and  of  the  difference  of  their  rela- 
tive position  in  higher  degrees  of  organization, 
every  substance  must  act  different  from  another 
substance  under  the  influence  of  any  force.  And 
the  difference  between  them  must  result  from  dis- 
similarity, while  many  relations  may  be  common 
to  both. 

It  is  then  probably  necessary  to  have  a  knowledge 
of  the  form  of  atoms,  and  of  the  form  and  posi- 
tions of  the  combinations  of  Atoms  of  a  magnetic 
or  diamagnetic  substance,  in  order  to  really  under- 
stand magnetic  action  or  the  reason  why  the  com- 
mon steel  becomes  a  permanent  magnet  by  a  few 
strokes  of  another  magnet. 

That  such  a  knowledge,  of  the  outward  shape 
and  every  peculiarity  of  any  given  atom,  is  attain- 
able through  patient  study,  coupled  with  scientific 
experimenting  and  the  help  of  mathematics  applied 
according  to  the  mathematics  of  nature,  is  evident 
when  every  occult  conception  and  prejudice  is 
thrown  away. 

For  a  sphere  is  a  sphere  whether  it  be  as  great 
as  the  sun  or  as  little  as  the  uncombined  Primary 
Sphere  of  void  matter.  And  all  laws  that  pertain 
to  the  great  sphere  as  a  sphere  pertain  to  the  little 
one.  And  four  spheres  in  closest  contact  produce 
a  form  that  is  perfectly  similar  whether  the  form 
be  made  of  spheres  a  mile  in  diameter  or  the  mil- 
lionth part  of  an  inch. 

Undoubtedly  five  Spheres  in  closest  contact  con- 
171 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

stitute  the  lightest  Atom   (Prop.  VI,  B.  2)  ;  per- 
haps this  is  Hydrogen. 

The  least  difference  between  any  two  atoms, 
according  to  some  table  of  atomic  weights,  is  18-100 
of  the  weight  of  the  Hydrogen  atom,  between 
N  S  and  C  O.  That  seems  to  indicate  the  atom  of 
Hydrogen  is  composed  of  five  Primary  Spheres  or 
of  a  multiple  of  five. 

By  putting  together,  in  closest  contact,  a  given 
number  of  Spheres,  there  will  always  result  a 
peculiar  form.  And  that  peculiar  form  will  easily 
fit  another  peculiar  form,  giving  an  idea  of  the 
valence  of  chemical  substances.  The  periodical  law 
of  Chemistry  will  furnish  another  guide,  and  most 
probable  there  will  appear,  in  the  increase  of  the 
constituent  ultimate  particles  of  Atoms,  a  fixed 
series,  as  there  is  in  the  increase  of  squares  and 
cubes,  and  in  circles  that  are  in  closest  contact 
within  a  greater  circle. 

There  are  in  the  iron  family,  which  constitutes 
the  most  prominent  magnetic  substances,  many 
peculiarities.  In  order  to  make  the  magnetic  qual- 
ity permanent  there  seems  to  be  required  some 
sort  of  crystallization.  The  atom  of  coal  somehow 
enters  into  combination  with  the  atom  of  iron  in 
steel. 

And  the  mysterious  process  of  tempering  aids 
greatly  in  making  the  steel  retain  magnetism.  Be- 
cause iron  and  coal  are  very  hard  to  melt  it  is 
evident  that  their  atoms  are  very  long  in  propor- 
tion to  breadth. 

172 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

Because  the  atom  of  iron  interlocks  strongly  it 
is  evident  that  the  atom  of  iron  has  very  marked 
pertuberances,  and  most  likely  the  atom  of  coal 
lies  crossways  of  the  iron  atom  in  steel.  And  the 
melting  point  of  steel  is  much  lower  than  the  melt- 
ing point  of  iron,  because  it  does  not  take  near  so 
much  expansion  to  disengage  the  knobs. 

The  combination  of  the  three  magnetic  sub- 
stances, Iron  and  carbon  in  steel,  with  nickel  in 
nickel  steel,  shows  remarkable  tenacity  and  very 
little  expansion  under  given  degrees  of  heat. 
Again,  Iron  and  Carbon  can  be  welded,  either  com- 
bined or  each  by  itself.  Iron  and  carbon  constitute 
the  major  portion  of  meteors,  and  carbon  seems  to 
enter  into  most  of  the  drugs  that  greatly  affect 
the  brain. 

Evidently  then  there  is  in  the  form  of  these 
atoms  some  peculiarity  which  makes  them  different 
from  other  atoms. 

No  atom  can  be  penetrated  by  Primary  Spheres 
because  the  Spheres  constituting  every  atom  are 
Primary  Spheres  in  closest  contact. 

Therefore,  any  stream  of  void  matter,  flowing  in 
any  possible  direction,  with  any  velocity  whatever, 
must  affect  any  and  every  substance  alike;  as  is 
the  case  in  inertia,  and  in  strict  relation  to  mass; 
unless  there  is  within  the  atom  itself  and  from 
thence  to  further  combinations  of  several  atoms  a 
capability  to  engage  that  stream  in  a  variety  of 
ways.  Because  Gravity  affects  atoms  as  atoms  in 
strict  relation  to  Mass,  therefore,  the  necessary 
173 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

change  an  atom  undergoes  to  produce  a  tendency 
to  come  together  (Prop.  XV,  B.  3)  under  the  action 
of  a  stream  of  void  matter,  this  change  is  common 
to  all  organized  atoms.  But  the  change  a  bar  of 
steel  undergoes  it  not  common  to  all  matter,  not 
even  to  soft  iron.  Under  any  and  all  circumstances 
the  changes  that  produce  gravity  are  going  on. 
But  a  like  mechanical  displacement  of  void  matter 
produces  magnetism  also,  and  heat  and  light  and 
electricity. 

Then  in  that  ever  flowing  stream  producing 
gravity,  can  there  be  currents  and  countercur- 
rents  ? 

No  material  can  go  in  two  different  ways  at  the 
same  time.  (Prop.  V,  B.  3).  Therefore,  since 
gravity  is  constant,  the  stream  of  void  Matter  pro- 
ducing gravity  must  also  be  constant. 

Yet  in  the  swiftest  river  there  are  eddies  and 
whirlpools,  produced  by  the  very  action  of  the  cur- 
rent on  obstructions.  And  so  it  seems  that  gravity 
may  be  superseded  by  a  stronger  force,  while  yet 
gravity  furnishes  the  base  for  the  superior  force. 

The  magnet  hanging  on  a  spring  scale  in  holding 
up  a  piece  of  iron  does  not  gain  or  lose  weight 
of  its  own  while  attracting  the  iron  against  the 
prompting  of  gravity;  and  while  the  iron  is  at- 
tracted by  the  magnet,  it  yet  adds  its  own  weight 
to  that  of  the  magnet  in  pulling  on  the  scale. 

Both  Gravity  and  magnetism  penetrate  every 
known  substance,  or  work  through  a  vacuum. 

It  is  then  evident  that  both  are  a  displacement 
174 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

of  void  matter.  And  when  both  work  simulta- 
neously on  the  same  substance,  through  the  agen- 
cy of  the  same  material,  then  that  material  must 
either  go  two  ways  at  once,  or  that  material  must 
engage  the  same  substance  in  different  ways. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  there  is  a  continuous  flow 
of  void  matter  toward  the  centre  of  the  earth. 

Let  that  current  have  a  uniform,  normal  veloc- 
ity of  ten  feet  a  second.  Let  it  be  granted  that  a 
horseshoe  magnet  hanging  on  a  nail  modifies  the 
normal  stream,  through  some  peculiarity  of  in- 
ternal construction,  so  that  in  one  end  or  leg  of  the 
magnet  the  stream  of  void  matter  has  a  velocity  of 
12  feet  a  second,  while  in  the  other  end  or  leg  of 
the  magnet  that  stream  has  a  velocity  of  8  feet  a 
second.  Then  the  middle  will  be  normal  or  neutral, 
and  the  amount  of  material  passing  through  the 
magnet  will  be  the  same  as  if  the  whole  magnet 
were  engaged  by  a  stream  of  normal  velocity,  and 
consequently  there  would  be  neither  gain  nor  loss 
of  weight  to  the  whole  magnet. 

Then  if  a  bar  of  iron  is  placed  close  to  the  poles 
of  the  magnet,  the  Primary  Spheres  flowing  at  the 
rate  of  8  feet  a  second  will  be  unable  to  fill  all  the 
space  vacated  by  the  P.  S.  flowing  through  the 
normal  bar  of  iron  at  the  rate  of  10  feet  a  second. 
Consequently  there  will  be  a  pressure  from  the 
under  side.  But  the  P.  S.  flowing  through  the 
other  leg  of  the  magnet  at  the  rate  of  12  feet  a 
second  will  cause  an  accumulation  between  that 
pole  of  the  magnet  and  the  bar  of  iron  which 
175 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

absorbs  the  P.  S.  at  the  rate  of  10  feet  a  second. 
Therefore,  since  both  poles  attract  the  iron,  it  is 
plain  that  the  iron  bar  modifies  or  alters  the  nor- 
mal flow  also.  If  it  were  not  so,  every  substance 
would  be  attracted  by  one  pole  of  the  magnet  and 
repelled  by  the  other  pole.  But  let  it  be  granted 
that  the  iron  bar,  because  of  the  peculiar  form  of 
its  Atoms,  has  a  capability  to  shear  the  flow  of 
P.  S.  from  that  end  where  they  flow  swiftly,  to 
the  other  end  where  the  flow  is  slower  than  normal, 
then  the  whole  bar  will  be  attracted. 

And  it  seems  as  if  the  observed  actions  of  the 
magnet  can  be  explained  under  this  Hypothesis, 
namely,  that  magnetism  is  the  result  of  an  accelera- 
tion of  the  flow  of  void  matter  on  one  side  and  a 
retarding  of  that  flow  on  the  other  side. 

Taking  for  granted  that  the  alternate  Hypothesis 
of  the  manner  of  an  ever-flowing  stream  of  void 
matter,  from  the  infinite  to  the  infinite,  is  true, 
then  the  velocity  of  such  an  alternate  stream  may 
be  checked  or  altered  even  as  if  it  were  going  in 
one  direction  only.  If  the  alternate  character  of  a 
universal  stream  consisted  in  a  periodical  renewal 
of  direction,  like  in  a  certain  class  of  Dynamo, 
then  it  would  still  be  a  solid  displacement  rather 
than  a  vibratory  wave  motion. 

Since  even  gases  are  susceptible  to  magnetic  ac- 
tion, the  Atoms,  or  at  least  the  second  degree  of 
organization,  must  be  able  to  produce  or  respond 
to  magnetism.  Steel  is  not  a  carbonate  of  iron, 
176 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

and  the  tempering  of  steel  is  not  a  chemical  Process. 
In  the  tempered  steel  the  iron  is  still  iron  and  the 
carbon  is  still  carbon. 

The  sudden  cooling  contracts  the  steel,  this  is 
certain.  The  sudden  cooling  hardens  the  steel, 
that  also  is  certain.  And  in  sudden  cooling  the 
fibres  of  the  steel  become  crystalline.  Equally  cer- 
tain it  seems  that  in  the  tempered  steel  the  atoms, 
molecules  or  crystals  cannot  turn  clear  around  or 
change  end  for  end.  Then  while  the  magnetizing 
of  steel  does  not  in  the  least  affect  the  temper,  it 
yet  causes  a  further  contraction  in  the  steel. 

And  since  the  whole  process  of  magnetizing  may 
be  done  by  mechanical  means  alone,  therefore,  the 
particles  of  the  steel  undergo  a  change  of  relative 
position  only  in  the  process  of  magnetizing.  A 
permanent  magnet  is  generally  composed  of  steel, 
carbon  and  iron.  And  carbon  and  iron  generally 
compose  the  most  part  of  magnetic  ores  or  meteors 
or  Loadstones.  Because  of  their  high  melting 
points  and  great  cohesion  it  is  most  probable  that 
both  the  atoms  of  carbon  and  iron  are  particularly 
long  in  proportion  to  their  breadth. 

While  a  form  built  up  of  indivisible  spheres  can- 
not be  a  true  sphere  or  rectilineal  solid  (Prop.  X, 
B.  1),  yet  it  may  approach  the  general  outline  of 
such  solid  bodies.  From  various  indications  it 
would  appear  that  the  atom  of  carbon  resembles 
an  elongated  cylinder  in  general  outline,  while  the 
atom  of  iron  resembles  a  triangular  Pyramid. 
177 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

Let  it  be  granted  that  this  approximation  is 
correct.  Then  the  atom  of  iron  by  itself  alone 
will  retard  the  action  of  a  disrupting  current  more 
at  its  base  than  at  the  point,  and  there  will  be  a 
difference  in  the  velocity  of  the  current  at  the  point 
and  at  the  base.  And  the  magnetizing,  by  bringing 
the  points  of  two  or  more  pyramidical  atoms  to- 
gether, or  by  the  joining  together  of  eight  pyra- 
mids in  one  new  enlarged  pyramid,  will  increase 
the  abnormality  of  the  alternate  current  between 
point  and  base.  Then  while  carbon  by  itself  does 
not  show  either  magnetic  or  diamagnetic  property 
to  any  great  degree,  its  atoms  probably  serve  either 
in  preventing  the  iron  atoms  from  turning  in  a 
direction  that  would  not  induce  magnetic  abnor- 
mality, or  else  they  more  probably  serve  to  inter- 
lock the  iron  particles  in  the  position  favorable  to 
magnetism. 

That  there  are  other  atoms  or  molecules  beside 
carbon  that  can  make  the  peculiar  position  of 
magnetized  iron  particles  permanent,  this  is  quite 
probable. 

And  from  the  same  consideration  diamagnetism 
of  substances  must  be  a  direct  result  of  the  abnor- 
mality of  a  magnetic  current  encountering  the 
peculiarity  of  the  physical  shape  of  diamagnetic 
atoms. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  an  ever-flowing  alternate 

current   travels    in    a   direction   of   the    terrestial 

north  and  south.    Then  such  current  encountering 

a  compass  needle,  through  one  end  of  which  the 

178 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

current  would  pass  quicker  both  going  and  coming, 
would  not  leave  that  needle  at  right  angles  to  that 
current. 

PROPOSITION   XIX. 

The  dual  nature  of  electricity  is  not  a  result  of 
two  different  occult  powers. 

Electricity,  while  a  manifestation  of  the  one 
universal  force,  is  yet  a  distinctly  separate,  iden- 
tical manifestation.  Light,  heat,  magnetism  and 
visible  mechanical  motion  can  each  be  made  to 
produce  electricity,  and  electricity  can  be  made 
to  produce  each  of  these  in  turn. 

Gravity  alone  has  not  been  turned  into  elec- 
tricity, neither  can  all  the  electricity  of  our  age 
detract  from  or  add  one  grain  to  the  weight  of  any 
substance. 

There  is  not,  in  any  manifestation  of  electricity, 
a  strict  relation  between  the  intensity  of  the  per- 
ceptible force  and  the  Mass  exhibiting  it,  and, 
therefore,  the  whole  Mass  does  not  necessarily  al- 
ways participate  in  the  Phenomena.  And  we  can- 
not accurately  measure  the  Mass  of  a  substance  by 
means  of  electricity  alone.  The  units  of  electrical 
measurements  are  at  last  based  upon  gravity,  upon 
the  movement  of  Mass  in  time  and  distance. 

Except  in  electrical  attraction  electricity  is  not 
recognized  as  being  subject  to  the  laws  of  increase 
after  the  square  by  reduction  of  distance,  and, 
179 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

therefore,  it  is  not  a  displacement  of  Primary 
Spheres  of  void  matter  in  plane  Layers. 

The  peculiar  action  first  observed  of  electrified 
bodies  was  the  attraction  for  other  bodies  that  glass 
or  rosin  showed  after  being  rubbed  with  some  dry 
non-conductor  of  heat. 

And  because  the  glass,  after  excitation,  will  at- 
tract various  substances  and  after  that  repel  them 
to  be  attracted  by  the  excited  rosin,  and  because 
two  glass  rods  electrically  excited  will  repel  each 
other,  as  will  also  two  sticks  of  rosin,  and  the  glass 
will  attract  the  rosin,  therefore,  it  is  evident  that 
there  are  two  kinds  of  electricity. 

And  in  all  electrical  phenomena  there  comes  into 
play  an  element  of  plus  and  minus,  a  positive  and 
a  negative.  That  this  positive  and  this  negative 
are  really  two  different  kinds  of  electricity  does  not 
necessarily  follow ;  for  any  plus  anywhere  is  always 
the  result  of  some  minus  somewhere  else;  there 
can  be  no  unqualified  plus  anywhere  without  an 
act  of  creation. 

Positive  electricity  will  flow  from  a  wire  in- 
tensely electrified  to  a  wire  that  is  charged  with 
positive  electricity  of  low  intensity. 

Neither  positive  nor  negative  electricity  is  an 
inherent  quality  of  any  material,  for  both  have  to 
be  generated  by  friction  or  chemical  energy,  or 
mechanical  motion  or  heat,  and  between  all  of  these 
there  is  a  perfect  equivalent  of  production,  and 
result  in  changing  one  into  the  other.  And,  after 
all,  electricity,  as  well  as  any  other  manifestation 
180 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

of  force  must  come  down  to  the  universal  unit  of 
force,  namely,  one  Primary  Sphere  changed  from 
organization  to  void  matter,  and  the  corresponding 
change  of  one  Sphere  from  void  matter  to  organ- 
ized matter. 

Positive  electricity  will  be  generated  in  Glass  and 
negative  electricity  in  sealing  wax  with  the  same 
friction.  Yet  with  either  material  both  kinds  are 
produced  simultaneously.  Only  in  the  case  of  one 
the  positive  goes  to  the  substance  rubbed  and  the 
negative  to  the  substance  used  for  rubbing,  and  in 
the  other  the  negative  goes  to  the  substance  rubbed 
and  the  positive  to  the  substance  used  for  rub- 
bing. 

And  this  positive  and  this  negative  may  be  in  a 
manner  stored  up  in  separate  bodies,  and,  there- 
fore, it  lies  near  at  hand  to  attribute  to  electricity 
a  dual  nature,  to  take  for  granted  that  electricity 
is  an  inherent  attribute  of  the  atoms  of  all  matter, 
but  is  in  ordinary  satiated  in  the  union  of  the  two 
kinds,  and  that  electrical  excitation  is  the  result 
of  the  separation  of  the  two  kinds,  and  electrical 
energy  the  result  of  the  reunion  of  the  two  kinds. 
This  is,  in  fact,  the  generally  accepted  theory  of 
electricity,  and  under  it  electrical  science  has  made 
wonderful  progress  and  innumerable  observations 
have  been  made.  But  there  seems  under  this  the- 
ory to  be  very  little  hope  of  further  theoretical 
advance,  because  any  inherent  attribute  of  either 
matter  or  force  is  beyond  the  scope  of  human  rea- 
soning. 

181 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

In  electrical  attraction,  which  penetrates  some 
substances  and  which  at  least  partially  works 
through  a  vacuum,  there  is  evidence  of  a  move- 
ment of  void  matter. 

For  if  the  air  is  considered  as  a  medium  to  trans- 
mit the  attraction  between  the  electrified  glass  rod 
and  the  attracted  pitch  ball,  then  the  air  must  be 
incorporated  into  the  glass  rod,  which  clearly  is 
not  the  case. 

Yet  all  the  while  that  the  Glass  rod  is  attracting, 
it  is  subject  to  gravity — that  is,  the  atoms  com- 
posing glass  rod  and  pitch  ball  offer  just  so  much 
resistance  to  the  stream  of  gravity,  for  if  there 
were  no  resistance  there  would  be  no  tendency  to 
go  along  with  the  stream. 

But  between  the  Glass  rod  and  pitch  ball  there 
is  an  inequality  which  produces  a  current  of  void 
matter  from  one  to  the  other,  carrying  the  pitch 
ball  with  it. 

PROPOSITION   XX. 

HYPOTHESIS. 

The  origin  and  nature  of  Electricity  is  a  quicken- 
ing of  the  process  of  life  in  one  body,  and  a 
corresponding  equivalent  retarding  of  that 
process  in  another  body  concerned  in  the  mani- 
festation. 

Every  manifestation  of  electricity  concerns  two 
bodies  at  once.  (Prop.  I,  B.  3.) 

182 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

And  these  bodies  must  possess  some  inequality. 
(Prop.  XVIII,  B.  1.) 

Electricity  that  is  transmitted  continuously  from 
one  body  to  another  body  must  be  transmitted 
through  a  continuous  stream  of  material  from  the 
transmitting  body  to  the  receiving  body.  (Prop. 
XVII,  B.  1.) 

And  evidently  when  the  transmission  is  inter- 
mittent, the  flow  of  matter  must  also  be  inter- 
mittent. 

Because  electricity  does  not  increase  or  decrease 
the  Mass  of  bodies  that  are  concerned  in  any  mani- 
festation of  electricity,  therefore,  it  is  evident  that 
no  organized  material  is  abstracted  from  one  body 
and  added  to  the  other.  And  mainly  for  this 
reason  electricity  is  generally  looked  upon  as  an 
occult  power,  needing  no  material  for  transmis- 
sion, an  energy,  a  force  that  is  a  primary  identity 
rather  than  a  peculiar  result  of  the  one  Primary 
Cause,  working,  through  mechanical  displacement, 
on  peculiar  living  identities. 

Electricity  is  claimed  to  be  motion,  vibration, 
life,  primary  Cause,  expression  of  infinite  mind,  or 
anything  else  to  fit  a  preconceived  scheme. 

And  yet  electricity  is  ever  associated  with  mate- 
rial, even  the  electricity  of  the  heavens  requires 
the  thunder  clouds  to  be  brought  to  our  perception. 

And  that  change  which  electricity  performs  on 

any  material,  it  will  invariably  perform  under  like 

conditions  on  like  material.    The  laws  that  govern 

electricity  are  invariable  and  constant,  and  every 

183 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

known  law  is  known  only  through  the  material 
with  which  it  is  associated. 

And  in  electricity,  as  well  as  in  every  other  field 
of  investigation,  the  divorce  of  matter  and  force 
in  philosophy,  has  led  to  the  grossest  materialism, 
on  one  side,  while  on  the  other  side  imagination 
has  ran  riot.  Electricity  cannot  be  primary  when 
it  consists  of  two  kinds.  Electricity  is  not  life, 
but  the  result  of  life.  And  the  only  expression 
of  mind  a  sane  human  can  understand  is  ever  con- 
veyed through  material. 

All  advance  in  electrical  science  has  been  the 
direct  result  of  observing  the  actions  of  electricity 
on  material.  And  evidently  any  real  advance  in 
theoretical  knowledge  of  electricity  must  come 
through  a  closer  acquaintance  with  material  forms, 
and  the  mechanical  changes  their  particles  un- 
dergo. 

As  a  proposition  for  solution  by  logical  reason- 
ing, electricity  offers  the  same  opportunities  and 
the  same  difficulties  that  heat  and  light  and  mag- 
netism do. 

For  clearly  electricity  is  transmitted.  It  can  be 
transmitted  through  matter  only.  That  matter 
must  be  taken  on  one  side  and  deposited  on  the 
other  side.  Yet  there  is  no  perceptible  increase 
or  decrease  of  either  Mass  or  bulk. 

That  both  propositions  are  true  is  uncontrovert- 
ible,  and  equally  true  that  they  are,  to  all  appear- 
ance, contradictory  one  of  the  other. 

The  water  wheel  may  not  drive  the  mill  unless 
184 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

the  water  actually  passes  from  above  the  dam  to 
below  the  dam.  And  yet  neither  the  pond  above 
nor  the  brook  below  need  necessarily  contain  less 
water  or  more,  when  the  wheel  is  running,  than 
when  it  is  not  running.  For  there  is  really  more 
to  the  mill,  and  the  Waterpower,  than  water  wheel 
and  mill  pond  and  brook  below ;  sun  and  moon  and 
stars  work  to  replenish  one,  and  drain  the  other. 

And  so  every  manifestation  or  transmission  of 
electricity  is  not  confined  to  the  two  dissimilar 
bodies,  between  whom  it  is  manifested  to  us  as 
electricity;  but  on  both  ends  electricity  and  every 
other  manifestation  of  force  is  connected  with  the 
whole  Universe.  (Prop.  VIII,  B.  3.) 
•  The  question  of  the  nature  of  electricity  then 
resolves  itself  into  the  question,  how  does  elec- 
tricity differ  from  other  forces  ?  How  can  a  stream 
of  void  matter  encountering  the  atoms  or  particles 
of  substances  produce  the  different  phenomena  of 
electricity  ? 

When  electricity  is  generated  or  separated  by 
friction,  the  mechanical  work  performed  on  the 
two  rubbing  surfaces  must  then  be  the  direct  cause 
of  electricity.  And  the  friction  is  possible  only 
because  of  the  inequalities  of  the  surfaces,  and 
these  must  engage  each  other.  And  always  this 
friction  will  produce  heat,  and  always  a  part  of 
the  surfaces  will  be  torn  loose;  there  is  nothing, 
however  hard,  but  will  be  worn  by  friction.  Evi- 
dently, then,  in  all  friction  there  is  a  breaking  up 
of  atoms  as  well  as  of  organizations  of  higher 
185 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

degrees.  But  a  broken  atom  must  necessarily  be 
dissolved  into  Primary  Spheres  of  void  Matter,  and 
these  must  create  a  pressure  in  the  interstices  of 
the  particles  of  bodies  heated  by  friction. 

But  it  is  possible  and  even  probable  that  another 
result  of  friction  is  a  turning  around  of  particles 
protruding.  Because  electrical  excitation  is  far 
more  easily  brought  about  with  some  substances 
than  with  others,  it  is  evident  that  the  peculiar 
form  of  the  particles  of  substances  has  very  much 
to  do  with  electricity.  And  whether  these  particles 
are  atoms  acting  as  atoms,  or  larger  aggregations 
of  atoms  in  further  organization,  in  either  case  they 
must  be  dissimilar  in  form. 

In  every  method  of  separating  electricity  there 
is  a  development  of  heat,  and  heat  itself  alone  will 
produce  electricity,  through  means  of  unequal  con- 
ductors. And  ever  there  is  some  inequality  in  the 
substances  used  in  any  process  of  developing  elec- 
tricity. It  is  evident  then  that  while  there  is  a 
change  in  the  flow  of  void  matter  to  and  from  the 
interstices  of  substances  electrically  excited,  this 
flow  is  in  some  manner  different  from  the  steady 
increase  of  the  magnitude  of  interstices  in  sub- 
stances heated.  For  electricity  neither  enlarges 
the  bulk  of  a  substance  nor  decreases  it.  Neither 
is  there  an  increase  or  decrease  of  the  birth  rate  of 
atoms  over  their  death  rate,  for  there  is  no  change 
in  mass;  birth  rate  and  death  rate  are  ever  equal, 
unless  there  is  a  total  disorganization. 

Then  any  change  in  the  flow  of  void  matter  to 
186 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

and  from  a  substance  electrically  excited  must 
change  that  flow  equally  on  both  sides.  If  the  flow 
into  the  interstices  is  quickened  the  flow  from  the 
interstices  must  be  quickened;  and  if  the  flow  of 
void  matter  for  the  formation  of  new  atoms  is 
retarded  the  flow  from  dissolved  atoms  must  be 
retarded. 

And  the  distinctive  difference  between  magnet- 
ism and  electricity  seems  to  be  that  in  magnetism 
there  is  a  polarity  or  dissimilarity  between  two 
ends  of  the  same  substances,  while  in  electricity 
that  dissimilarity  is  in  two  different  substances 
relative  to  one  another. 

Because  electricity  has  no  direct  relation  to 
mass,  and  because  a  hollow  pipe  will  conduct  elec- 
tricity as  freely  as  a  solid  rod  of  equal  diameter, 
therefore,  it  seems  conclusive  that  the  surfaces  of 
bodies  only  participate  in  electrical  phenomena. 
And,  therefore,  it  is  unlikely  that  the  flow  of  void 
matter,  into  the  interstices  of  bodies,  has  much  to 
do  with  electricity  directly. 

The  hypotheses  most  nearly  agreeing  with  ob- 
served facts  and  logical  conclusions  seem  to  be  that 
electricity  is  an  abnormal  flow  of  void  matter  to 
and  from  electrified  substances;  that  in  the  case 
of  positive  electricity  the  flow  is  greater  than  nor- 
mal, and  in  the  case  of  negative  electricity  it  is 
less  than  normal.  And  always  the  positive  must 
be  accompanied  by  the  negative,  for  the  bodies  that 
manifest  one  state  or  the  other  are  both  connected 
with  the  whole  Universe,  and  positive  and  negative 
187 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

finally  resolve  themselves,  in  every  case,  to  the  unit 
of  all  force,  the  space  vacated  by  a  Primary  Sphere 
in  changing  from  void  to  organized  matter. 

But  electricity  may  be  in  a  manner  stored  up; 
the  glass  rod  will  attract  after  the  rubbing  has 
ceased,  and  our  storage  battery  will  retain  its 
charge  for  a  long  time.  It  is  evident  then  that 
there  is  a  change  the  atoms,  or  higher  organizations 
of  substances,  undergo  in  electricity.  And  if  elec- 
tricity is  the  result  of  an  abnormal  flow  of  void 
matter,  a  storing  up  of  that  condition  can  consist 
only  in  making  the  cause  of  the  abnormal  flow 
permanent.  That  this  is  accomplished  by  some 
turning  around  of  the  atoms  of  a  substance  seems 
likely,  even  as  it  seems  to  be  the  case  in  a  per- 
manent magnet. 

The  charging  of  a  storage  battery  does  not 
change  its  cellular  construction,  nor  its  chemical 
composition,  nor  yet  its  bulk  or  mass. 

It  were  preposterous  to  suppose  that  electricity 
could  be  drawn  out  of  the  storage  battery,  like  wine 
out  of  a  barrel,  a  little  at  a  time,  if  that  electricity 
had  no  connection  with  material.  But  if  the  par- 
ticles of  the  storage  battery  are  altered  in  their 
relative  position  by  electricity,  then  they  must  be 
altered  one  after  another,  and  in  the  withdrawal 
of  electricity  one  particle  after  another  must  re- 
sume its  normal  position. 

How  a  change  of  ends  of  atoms,  on  any  altera- 
tion in  position  relative  to  one  another  or  the 
whole  mass  or  common  centre,  can  necessitate  a 
188 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

change  in  the  duration  of  the  life  of  atoms,  seems 
to  be  an  unanswerable  question,  without  an  ade- 
quate knowledge  of  the  form  of  atoms. 

The  telegraph  wire  is  not  a  dead  thing  at  any 
time,  for  in  it  every  particle  is  held  to  the  other 
by  life,  whether  we  call  that  life  cohesion  or  any 
other  name.  (Prop.  XXV,  B.  2.)  When  a  tele- 
graph message  goes  over  the  wire  every  part  of 
the  wire  must  undergo  a  change.  (Prop.  XI,  B. 
1.)  And  at  the  sender's  end  something  must  go 
into  the  wire  and  at  the  receiver's  end  something 
must  come  out  of  the  wire.  And  this  something 
does  not  consist  in  atoms  of  copper  or  iron,  or  any 
other  kind  of  atom,  nor  yet  of  any  occult  power. 
In  the  wire  every  particle  is  interlocked.  (Prop. 
VI,  B.  1.)  And  because  the  message  requires  time 
for  transmission,  therefore,  it  is  not  a  straight 
column  of  Primary  Spheres  of  void  matter  which 
transmits  the  message.  For  a  straight  column  of 
P.  S.  must  act  as  one  whole,  instantaneously. 

Then  since  the  material  flowing  into  the  wire 
is  evidently  void  matter,  that  matter  must  either 
go  around  the  protruding  parts  of  atoms  in  the 
wire,  or  else  play  a  part  in  the  renewal  of  the 
atoms  in  the  process  of  life;  and  because  insula- 
tion adds  greatly  to  the  efficiency  of  the  wire,  it 
is  evident  that  the  latter  is  the  case. 

The  electricity  contained  in  the  wire  is  quickly 
exhausted;  if  a  large  storage  battery  were  cir- 
cuited in,  the  telegraph  wire  would  not  act.  But 
the  wire  comprising  the  whole  line  would  contain 
189 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

far  more  material  than  the  storage  battery.  It  is 
evident  then  that  the  change  in  the  wire  by  the 
momentary  charge  of  electricity  is  of  a  somewhat 
different  character  from  the  change  effected  in  the 
storage  battery  by  being  charged.  The  broken 
ocean  cable  will  return  the  charge  of  electricity 
after  a  measurable  interval. 

It  seems  evident  then  that  the  atoms  of  the  wire 
undergo  a  change  one  by  one — that  is,  the  change 
of  one  compels  the  change  of  an  adjacent  one. 

That  this  is  not  possible  without  a  necessary 
change  in  the  process  of  the  life  of  atoms  is  very 
evident  when  the  amount  of  electricity  necessary 
for  the  sending  of  a  message  over  the  Atlantic  is 
compared  with  the  amount  necessary  to  change 
one  pound  of  copper  from  the  solution  to  pure 
copper. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  electricity  is  a  quickening 
of  the  process  of  life  in  one,  and  an  equivalent 
retarding  of  the  process  in  another  Substance. 
(Hypothesis.)  Then  how  are  these  two  connected 
in  the  one  phenomena !  Why  cannot  one  condition 
be  produced  without  the  other  ? 

And  this  question  must  connect  electricity  with 
gravity,  and  suggests  the  further  question.  If 
gravity  is  caused  by  a  constant  stream  of  void 
matter  acting  on  atoms  in  the  process  of  life,  why 
does  not  a  quickening  of  that  process  enhance  the 
power  of  gravity? 

In  the  first  place,  we  cannot  assign  to  force  any 
definite  direction;  only  between  living  identities 
190 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

can  we  perceive  or  conceive  a  movement,  or  dis- 
play of  force.  (Prop.  IX,  B.  3.) 

And  in  opposition  to  gravity  we  must  have  the 
force  of  acquired  momentum  in  celestial  bodies, 
or  they  will  all  come  together  by  the  action  of 
gravity. 

And  this  centrifugal  force,  or  acquired  Momen- 
tum, is  not  an  inherent  force,  but  ever  the  result 
of  a  previous  action.  And  a  previous  action  re- 
quires a  previous  power,  and  an  identity  to  exer- 
cise that  power,  so  that  in  any  direction  of  material 
creation,  or  abstract  thought,  we  must  invariably 
finally  come  to  the  infinite. 

But  a  finite  identity  is  finite  in  its  life,  and 
when  that  life  is  the  result  of  a  displacement  of 
matter,  the  amount  of  matter  must  also  be  finite. 

Then  the  flow  of  void  matter  from  one  living 
identity  to  another  in  the  whole  fundamental 
process  of  life  can  be  normal  only  while  the  iden- 
tities remain  as  they  are.  But  no  two  identities 
remain  as  they  are  for  any  length  of  time,  and  not 
even  the  elements  composing  a  substance  remain 
unchanged  in  proportionate  amount  to  the  whole 
mass. 

And  where  can  we  find  a  living  identity  that 
does  not  change  in  Mass?  Are  our  scales  perfect 
at  all  places,  times  and  conditions? 

But  it  is  evident  that  if  the  Fraser  River  conveys 

a  certain  amount  of  water  from  the  canons  to  the 

gulf  in  a  given  time,  any  obstruction  placed  in  the 

river  to  retard  the  flow  must  necessarily  compel  a 

191 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

quickening  of  the  flow  somewhere  else,  and  readily 
every  obstructing  stone  may  be  seen  to  produce  a 
stronger  current. 

And  so,  granting  a  stream  of  void  matter  to  the 
earth  from  the  moon  and  from  the  earth  to  the 
sun,  or  from  the  infinite  to  the  earth  and  from  the 
earth  to  the  infinite,  if  this  stream  has  a  normal 
velocity,  any  retarding  of  that  stream  in  one  place 
must  necessarily  produce  an  acceleration  in  an- 
other place,  and  that  place  will  be  as  near  by  as 
circumstances  will  permit. 

Therefore,  if  positive  electricity  is  a  retarding 
of  the  normal  flow  of  void  matter  it  must  neces- 
sarily be  ever  accompanied  by  negative  elec- 
tricity. 

In  the  second  place,  gravity  cannot  produce  a 
tendency  of  earth  and  sun,  or  any  other  two  bodies 
separated  by  void  matter,  to  come  together,  unless 
there  is  a  continuous  change  in  both  bodies.  For 
a  mere  pressure  of  void  matter  must  be  equal  on 
all  sides. 

And  somehow  through  the  processes  of  life  in 
two  bodies  that  attract  each  other,  there  is  pro- 
duced an  inequality  between  the  pressure  on  the 
void  matter  in  straight  lines  between  the  two  bodies 
and  the  void  matter  outside  of  these  lines. 

But  this  inequality  between  two  insignificant 
bodies  cannot  alter  the  whole  Universe,  nor  any 
great  universal  current.  Even  as  a  snag  in  the 
great  river  cannot  check  or  alter  the  velocity  of 
the  current.  The  glass  rod  that  is  excited  with 
192 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

positive  electricity,  and  the  stick  of  sealing  wax 
that  is  excited  with  negative  electricity,  do  attract 
each  other ;  more  and  over  and  above  the  attraction 
of  gravitation  for  each  other.  That  is  to  say,  the 
inequality  of  pressure  on  the  void  matter  in 
straight  lines  between  the  glass  rod  and  sealing 
wax,  and  the  pressure  on  the  void  matter  not  in 
these  straight  lines,  produced  by  the  process  of 
life  in  the  normal  earth  current,  is  by  the  elec- 
trical excitation  intensified  and  increased. 

But  that  abnormal  increase  cannot  alter  the 
whole  current,  and  while  the  electricity  alters  the 
rapidity  of  the  change  in  the  process  of  life  of  the 
sealing  wax  and  glass  rod,  it  does  not  alter  the 
normal  change  in  the  whole  earth. 

Then  because  gravity  is  a  manifestation  of  force 
between  an  identical  body  and  the  whole  material 
composing  the  earth,  and  because  every  manifesta- 
tion of  force  requires  yielding  on  one  side  as  well 
as  pressure  on  the  other  side,  therefore  if  the  at- 
traction of  gravity  is  to  be  increased  in  the  glass 
rod  there  has  to  be  an  alteration  in  the  life  process 
of  the  whole  mass  of  the  earth  also,  or  else  some 
nearby  identical  body  must  undergo  an  equivalent 
change.  Generally  the  earth  is  deemed  to  be  a 
great . reservoir  of  negative  electricity;  it  is  able 
to  absorb  or  neutralize  all  the  positive  electricity 
we  may  generate.  Still  there  has  to  be  some  proper 
ground  connection.  This  does  not  in  any  way 
contradict  a  theory  that  electricity  is  an  inequality 
of  the  rapidity  of  exchange  in  the  life  process  of 
193 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

atoms  between  a  positively  excited  substance  and 
the  earth  in  its  general  normality. 

Nor  yet  are  Hertzian  waves  or  X  rays  contra- 
dictory of  the  theory  advanced.  For  in  this  theory 
an  electrified  condition  is  intimately  connected 
with  displacement  in  void  matter. 

There  is  then  nothing  to  hinder  an  assumption 
that  an  intense  inequality  may  find  an  outlet  di- 
rectly through  void  matter. 

But  even  in  that  case  something  must  compel 
and  something  must  yield,  however  far  these  two 
may  be  separated. 

The  alternate  hypothesis  of  the  movement  of  a 
universal  current  will  not  advance  the  study  of 
electrical  phenomena  except  that  it  may  account 
for  a  life  process  of  Atoms  without  decrease  or 
increase  of  Mass.  That  electricity  and  magnetism 
are  nearly  related  is  very  evident,  yet  they  are 
far  from  being  identical.  Generally  it  is  claimed 
that  magnetism  is  a  dead  attraction,  while  elec- 
tricity is  a  living  power. 

The  continued  breaking  up  and  reinception  of 
the  magnetic  condition  in  the  running  Dynamo 
produce  the  electricity.  That  a  similar  inequality 
cannot  be  produced  by  differentiating  between 
rising  bodies  and  falling  bodies  is  by  no  means 
certain.  Neither  is  it  certain  that  a  properly  made 
Radiometer,  with  its  wings  consisting  of  iron  on 
one  side  and  copper  on  the  other  side,  will  not 
turn  in  a  magnetic  field.  The  fear  of  the  ridicu- 
lousness of  perpetual  motion  is  as  widespread  as  the 
194 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

half  instinctive  notion  of  human  force  creation. 
Yet  all  life  and  all  force  is  perpetual  motion  under 
any  theory  that  has  ever  been  advanced.  If  we 
believe  that  force  is  passing  from  one  thing  to 
another  in  the  closed  ring  of  vibration,  then  we 
believe  that  vibration  to  be  perpetual  motion.  If 
we  believe  in  the  steady  displacement  of  an  alter- 
nate current,  from  the  infinite  to  the  infinite,  by 
the  very  act  of  destruction  building  all  things 
anew,  then  we  must  concede  to  the  infinite  all 
causation,  and  to  the  alternate  current  perpetual 
motion.  And  somehow  we  have  to  get  hold  of  force 
that  is  not  our  force  when  we  want  to  do  things. 
We  have  to  interrupt  wind  or  water  in  their  steady 
flow;  we  have  to  put  in  our  engine,  between  ex- 
pansion and  contraction,  in  order  to  get  power. 
And  this  interrupting  of  an  ever-flowing  current 
or  an  everlasting  vibration,  this  is  all  that  any  so- 
called  force  can  do ;  all  force  is  but  a  change. 

Electrical  attraction  is  never  permanent — that 
is,  the  attracted  body  will  not  stay  attracted;  ap- 
parently it  is  repulsed  as  soon  as  there  has  been  a 
physical  contact.  Iron,  the  most  pronounced  mag- 
netic substance,  is  not  at  all  prominent  in  showing 
electric  attraction.  Yet  iron  is  most  readily  and 
strongly  magnetized  by  electricity.  Steel  mag- 
netized by  electricity  is  just  as  permanently  mag- 
netized as  if  it  were  done  by  magnetic  induction. 
There  is  no  difference  in  any  respect  between  mag- 
nets made  from  other  magnets  or  from  electricity. 
Then  since  the  same  electric  currents  make  such 
195 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

difference  on  iron  and  hydrocarbons,  while  yet  they 
are  composed  of  strictly  similar  Primary  Spheres, 
that  difference  can  only  result  from  the  difference 
in  form  of  iron  and  hydrocarbons.  Iron  and  car- 
bon make  a  permanent  magnet.  Iron  alone  does 
not.  Hydrogen  and  carbon  are  directly  attracted 
by  an  electric  current.  Iron  is  not  in  any  great 
degree.  In  either  steel  or  Hydrocarbon  the  same 
carbon  is  a  constituent.  Then  the  difference  lies 
most  probably  between  iron  and  hydrogen.  Again, 
most  probably  Hydrogen  consists  of  five  Primary 
Spheres  and  they  can  hardly  be  in  closest  contact 
in  more  than  one  way  to  be  at  all  symmetrical. 
(Ocular  Demonstration.)  This  reasoning  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  magnetism  holds  the  points 
of  long  triangular  Atoms  together,  while  electricity 
turns  points  outward. 

A  compass  needle  will  range  itself  parallel  to  an 
electric  current,  always  in  relation  to  their  polar- 
ity; then  it  is  evident  that  whatever  makes  the 
needle  point  in  a  certain  direction,  that  is  also 
supplied  by  an  electric  current. 

Then  if  the  electric  current  make  a  different 
result  on  hydrocarbons  from  what  the  normal  uni- 
versal current  does,  it  must  either  be  different  in 
its  intrinsic  nature  or  else  it  must  differ  in  intensity 
or  direction  or  velocity.  But  it  will  work  in  any 
direction.  And  it  is  not  different  naturally,  for 
both  the  normal  current  and  an  electric  current 
produce  the  same  pointing  in  the  same  compass. 
It  must  be  then  that  electricity  is  different  in  veloc- 
196 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

ity  from  the  normal  alternate  current,  and  since 
it  is  ever  positive  and  negative,  it  must  be  slower 
than  normal  in  one  substance  and  faster  than 
normal  in  the  other. 

In  conducting  electricity  a  copper  wire  acts 
different  than  in  conducting  heat. 

Heat  engages  the  whole  mass  of  the  copper  to  a 
far  greater  degree  than  electricity  does.  Yet  if  the 
wire  is  too  small  to  carry  the  electricity,  heat 
will  be  generated.  So  it  evidently  takes  material 
to  convey  electricity,  and  electrical  resistance  must 
consist  in  the  mechanical  obstruction  the  particles 
of  a  substance  may  present  to  an  abnormal  current, 
while  yet  they  exist  as  organizations  only  because 
of  a  normal  current. 

Wireless  telegraphy  does  not  contradict  this 
reasoning,  and  the  mystery  of  its  transmissions  is 
more  capable  of  solution  under  a  theory  of  steady 
displacement  than  under  vibration  or  occult  theo- 
ries. In  thermo  electricity  there  is  unequal  con- 
duction ;  in  the  galvanic  battery  there  are  ever  two 
bodies  that  are  affected  different  by  the  acids.  Can 
these  unequal  substances  tear  apart  two  distinct 
powers  that  are  locked  up  in  the  embrace  of  each 
other  ? 

In  differentiating  positive  and  negative,  the 
bodies  must  themselves  undergo  a  change.  And 
this  change  must  be  prompted  by  a  power  that  is 
already  existing.  And  however  many  transfer- 
ences and  changes  there  may  be  traced  or  imag- 
ined, at  last  it  must  come  to  the  infinite. 
197 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

Then  because  the  changes  wrought  in  matter  by 
electricity  are  not  a  displacement  of  ponderable 
matter  or  cause  an  increase  or  decrease  of  mass, 
therefore,  electricity  is  in  the  last  instance  a  dis- 
placement of  void  matter.  And  because  electricity 
does  not  create  force,  there  must  be  a  displacement 
of  void  matter  pre-existing  to  any  manifestation 
of  electricity.  This  displacement  must  now  be 
ever  present  and  must  in  some  manner  be  alternate 
or  there  would  be  a  general  accumulation  of  mass. 
Upon  this  displacement  of  void  matter  different 
substances  may  take  hold  differently  because  of 
their  form,  which  constitutes  their  identity.  Then 
because  finite  substances  cannot  stop  an  infinite 
current  while  yet  they  engage  that  current,  there- 
fore, they  can  only  modify  its  velocity. 


PROPOSITION   XXI. 

The  transmission  of  light  is  effected  through  a  dis- 
placement of  Primary  Spheres  of  void  matter, 
which  cannot  loosely  vibrate. 

Of  all  forces  light  seems  to  have  the  least  rela- 
tion to  the  mass  of  substances.  In  no  known  way 
can  light  be  determined  in  amount  or  intensity  by 
the  weight  or  bulk  of  the  substance  which  pro- 
duces it,  or  upon  which  it  acts.  There  is,  there- 
fore, no  scientific  unit  of  light,  and  the  arbitrary 
candlepower  is  the  adopted  standard.  But  sun- 
light and  artificial  light  are  accompanied  and,  ac- 
198 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

cording  to  generally  accepted  theories,  they  are  pro- 
duced by  heat. 

Yet  Phosphorescence  and  the  light  of  many  ani- 
mals as  well  as  the  North  Light  are  not  accom- 
panied or  caused  by  heat  that  is  ordinarily  percep- 
tible. And  many  laws  that  are  applicable  to  light 
are  not  common  to  heat  or  any  other  force,  there- 
fore, light  is  a  distinct  identical  manifestation  of 
the  One  Universal  Force. 

Because  light  does  not  add  weight  to  a  sub- 
stance that  receives  light,  therefore,  it  is  not  a 
movement  of  organized  material.  But  light  is  a 
manifestation  of  force,  and  always  there  are  two 
bodies  concerned  in  the  manifestation  at  the  same 
time.  And  because  the  intensity  of  light  is  di- 
minished after  the  square  by  the  increase  of  dis- 
tance between  the  bodies  giving  and  receiving  light, 
therefore,  light  is  a  displacement  of  void  matter 
in  plane  layers.  (Prop.  XII,  B.  3.) 

Then  whatever  the  origin  of  light  may  be,  in  the 
first  place,  and  whatever  the  effect  of  light  may  be 
on  the  bodies  receiving  it,  between  the  two  bodies 
it  is  a  mere  displacement  of  Primary  Spheres.  And 
the  Primary  Spheres  of  void  matter  do  not  absorb 
light  or  reflect  it;  neither  is  there  any  refraction 
or  polarization  or  any  other  change  possible  in 
void  matter,  except  a  change  of  position  of  indi- 
vidual spheres.  Therefore,  light  can  be  light  only 
where  there  is  organized  matter  capable  of  under- 
going change  through  the  agency  of  light.  And 
organized  matter  can  undergo  change  only  because 
199 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

of  its  organization;  therefore,  the  organization  or 
life  of  substances  must  give  the  key  to  unlock  the 
secrets  of  light.  While  it  has  long  been  held  im- 
possible to  make  an  engine  that  would  move  by 
light,  this  has  lately  been  accomplished,  and  the 
appliance  is  somewhat  similar  to  the  well-known 
radiometer. 

It  does  not  need  this  new  invention  to  prove 
that  light  is  a  mechanical  displacement  of  mate- 
rial, for  from  every  direction  we  receive  light 
through  intervening  void  matter,  which  can  trans- 
mit force  of  any  kind  only  through  displacement. 

And  the  generally  accepted  theory  of  light  is  a 
vibration  of  ether  particles,  of  greater  velocity  than 
the  vibrations  of  the  same  ether  that  cause  heat. 
And  the  waves  of  light  are  said  to  move  at  right 
angles  to  the  surface  which  they  strike. 

But  this  theory  cannot  be  reconciled  to  the  known 
laws  of  mechanics,  for  this  broadside  action  really 
involves  a  movement  of  matter  in  every  conceiv- 
able direction  at  once.  Moreover,  in  a  Universe 
that  is  full,  without  a  vacant  space  anywhere  large 
enough  to  hold  one  Primary  Sphere,  there  can  be 
no  loose  about  vibration ;  the  whole  of  all  the  void 
matter  must  move  in  unison.  In  a  Universe  that  is 
full  there  can  be  no  haphazard  wave  of  ether  or 
anything  else,  for  the  Primary  Sphere  or  the  brin- 
dled cat  that  moves  must  push  something  out  of 
the  way,  and  something  will  immediately  fill  the 
vacated  space.  As  far  as  our  conception  of  force 
goes,  it  is  really  a  simple  shove,  and  those  things 
200 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

that  do  not  participate  in  a  movement  can  neither 
multiply  nor  divide  a  force. 

Therefore,  the  intensity  of  light  comes  under  the 
same  law  that  the  hydraulic  jack,  the  lever,  screw 
and  pulley  do — that  is,  when  the  same  amount  of 
force  or  crowding  for  space  is  distributed  among 
many  living  identities  or  Primary  Spheres,  each 
one  receives  less  than  when  the  same  amount  is 
distributed  among  a  few.  And  the  movement  of 
void  matter  throughout  the  Universe,  as  far  as 
therein  we  may  perceive  living  identities,  however 
distant,  becomes  a  problem  that  may  be  solved  by 
human  reasoning,  when  this  movement  is  a  dis- 
placement of  Spheres  in  actual  contact  with  one 
another. 

It  is  the  number  of  Primary  Spheres  that  are  in 
contact  with  the  body  giving  out  light  on  one  side, 
and  the  number  of  P.  S.  in  contact  with  the  re- 
ceiving body  on  the  other  side,  which  give  up  or 
take  up  space.  And  they  involve  in  their  own 
movement  a  greater  or  lesser  number  of  columns  of 
Primary  Spheres  intervening  between  the  trans- 
mitting body  and  the  receiving  body.  Then  be- 
cause these  columns  cannot  be  straight  rows  of 
Primary  Spheres,  one  directly  behind  the  other,  but 
each  one  shoving  two  others,  therefore,  whatever 
the  intensity  of  the  force  is  on  the  ends,  between 
them  there  are  columns  that  increase  in  number 
after  the  square  by  increase  of  distance. 

Then  in  the  transmission  of  force  through  void 
matter  there  can  only  be  one  method,  namely,  the 
201 


MECHANISM   OF   NATURE 

displacement  of  Primary  Spheres  in  actual  contact 
throughout  the  whole  distance.  And  the  force 
light  is  transmitted  as  displacement,  and  so  is  heat 
and  magnetism  and  gravity.  Yet  none  of  these  is 
alike,  for  the  body  that  transmits  and  the  body 
that  receives  are  both  capable  of  many  changes. 

Then  light  waves  and  heat  waves  are  not  differ- 
ent in  intrinsic  velocity,  for  the  rapidity  of  the 
transmission  depends  on  the  yielding  of  the  receiv- 
ing body,  just  as  much  as  on  the  pressure  of  the 
transmitting  body.  And  the  void  matter  affecting 
the  illumination  of  a  body  does  not  that  instant 
come  from  the  source  of  light,  for  it  was  already 
in  close  proximity  to  the  receiving  body.  Then  is 
the  transmission  of  light  subject  to  the  laws  that 
govern  the  hydraulic  jack,  and  laws  that  apply  to 
spheres  in  full  boxes  are  applicable  to  Primary 
Spheres  in  the  transmission  of  light. 

PROPOSITION   XXII. 

Incandescence  is  an  abnormal  hastening  of  the 
process  of  life,  in  the  atoms  composing  the 
surface  of  the  glowing  body. 

The  white  hot  iron  gives  off  light;  the  hot  coal 
glows  while  the  heat  lasts,  and  the  carbon  of  our 
glow  lamp  is  not  consumed.  A  stove  may  be  red 
hot  many  times  and  yet  lose  little  of  its  weight, 
and  none  because  of  the  glowing. 

It  is  then  evident  that  the  heat  produces  the 
light,  and  any  loss  of  substance  by  the  red  hot 
202 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

body  is  only  incidental,  and  not  a  necessary  result 
of  the  incandescence. 

Yet  heat  is  not  incandescence,  and  a  degree  of 
incandescence  is  not  an  absolute  indication  of  a 
corresponding  degree  of  heat,  for  all  substances 
differ  in  capacity  for  incandescence.  And  while 
light  and  incandescence  are  in  a  manner  words  of 
like  meaning,  yet  light  is  not  always  the  result  of 
heat.  The  light  of  the  glow  worm  can  hardly  be 
considered  as  incandescence,  the  direct  product  of 
heat. 

A  red  hot  sheet  of  iron  gives  off  as  much  heat 
and  light  as  a  cube  of  equally  hot  iron  which  has 
equal  surface  area.  It  is  then  apparent  that  in  an 
incandescent  body  the  surface  only  undergoes  that 
peculiar  change  which  produces  light.  That  this 
peculiar  change  may  be  produced  by  means  other 
than  heat  becomes  evident  when  it  is  considered 
that  heat  is  not  an  occult  power,  but  a  mechanical 
displacement.  As  a  general  rule,  a  solid  substance 
is  capable  of  incandescence  in  direct  proportion  to 
its  ability  to  preserve  the  solid  state  under  the 
influence  of  heat. 

Because  atoms  as  atoms  can  undergo  no  change 
except  a  change  of  position,  which  is  common  to 
any  body,  or  aggregation  of  bodies  in  one  organiza- 
tion j  and  the  further  change  of  life,  existence  and 
death ;  therefore,  no  amount  of  heat  can  make  any 
single  atom  incandescent.  And  when  any  aggrega- 
tion of  atoms  in  the  gaseous  state  are  incapable  of 
chemical  combinations,  then  no  amount  of  heat  will 
203 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

make  them  incandescent.  The  illuminating  gases 
of  various  sorts  undergo  some  changes  in  the  act 
of  combustion,  and  these  changes  are  both,  organ- 
izing and  disorganizing,  at  the  same  time. 

Light  is  a  movement  of  Primary  Spheres  of  void 
matter,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  that.  And  equally 
certain  a  mere  going  back  and  forth  of  anything 
cannot  produce  force  or  transmit  it  either. 

Then  when  the  incandescent  body  produces  light, 
the  Primary  Spheres  that  transmit  that  light  must 
be  thrown  from  the  glowing  surface.  And  all  the 
while  the  glowing  surface  is  emitting  light,  that 
surface,  together  with  all  the  rest  of  the  incan- 
descent body,  is  under  the  influence  of  gravity  and 
inertia  and  electricity  and  heat. 

Therefore,  every  particle  of  the  glowing  sub- 
stance is  undergoing  a  change,  while  the  surface 
alone  undergoes  that  change  which  produces  light. 

The  heat  permeating  the  whole  substance,  en- 
larging its  interstices,  against  the  resistance  of 
gravity  and  mechanical  interlocking,  is  used  up  in 
the  act  of  illumination — that  is,  the  glowing  body 
is  trying  to  contract  while  some  other  body  will 
not  let  him  contract.  Then  is  the  incandescence 
the  direct  result  of  a  flow  of  void  matter  from  the 
interstices  of  a  glowing  body? 

That  cannot  be  the  case,  for  then  incandescence 
would  have  to  cease  when  the  melting  point  is 
reached,  and  every  substance  contracting  by  cool- 
ing would  have  to  be  incandescent.  It  seems  rather 
as  if  the  change  in  a  surface  that  produces  incan- 
204 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

descence  were  a  hastening  of  the  life  process  of 
outlying  atoms.  Those  bodies  that  are  hard  to  melt 
evidently  possess  atoms  that  are  very  long  in  pro- 
portion to  their  breadth,  and  probably  they  get 
broken  up  in  the  forcible  expansion  of  heat. 

While  the  light  derived  from  incandescence  does 
not  increase  the  Mass  of  anything  upon  which  it 
falls,  yet  every  body  absorbing  light  is  increased 
in  bulk;  that  is,  the  light  heats  up  the  body  and 
enlarges  its  interstices,  which  must  needs  be  full 
of  void  matter. 

Then  since  the  light  of  incandescence  shows  a 
surplus  over  normal,  of  void  matter,  and  the  trans- 
mission of  light  is  a  mere  mechanical  displacement 
of  void  matter,  therefore,  the  abnormal  flow  must 
be  produced  in  the  incandescent  surface. 

But  while  that  flow  can  be,  in  its  abnormality, 
transmitted  through  a  vacuum  only  by  a  displace- 
ment of  P.  S.  of  void  matter,  such  transmission  is 
greatly  different  from  a  transmission  of  any  other 
force. 

PROPOSITION   XXIII. 

(HYPOTHESIS.) 

Transparency  of  solid  bodies  can  only  be  a  result 
of  a  change  in  the  transparent  body,  effected 
through  the  agency  of  the  light,  on  the  life 
process  of  transparent  bodies. 
Gravity  and  magnetism  penetrate  all  things. 
Heat  will  distribute  itself  through  the  whole  of 
any  substance. 

205 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

But  light  penetrates  some  substances  and  not 
others,  or  rather,  different  substances  permit  the 
light  to  pass  through  in  a  different  degree  of  per- 
fection. 

And  the  more  freely  a  substance  permits  the 
passage  of  light,  the  less  the  substance  is  affected 
by  the  light. 

There  are  few  known  solids  which  are  perfectly 
transparent,  or  what  is  called  perfect,  but  liquids 
are  far  more  transparent  than  the  same  substance 
in  a  solid  state,  and  nearly  all  gases  are  transpar- 
ent. Again,  many  solids  that  do  not  seem  to  be 
transparent  in  the  slightest  degree,  under  ordi- 
nary conditions,  will  become  to  some  degree  trans- 
parent when  they  are  worked  down  to  a  very  thin 
sheet. 

It  seems  then  as  if  the  property  of  transparency 
were  a  result  of  the  cellular  construction  of  a  sub- 
stance, the  light  penetrating  between  the  particles 
more  or  less  freely,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
interstices  and  their  continuations  in  straight  lines. 

The  particles  of  a  gas  are  clear  apart  from  one 
another,  and  therefore  Primary  Spheres,  in  the 
transmission  of  light,  can  pass  freely  between  the 
gas  atoms  or  particles. 

Animal  membrane,  freed  from  fats  and  coarser 
tissue,  oiled  paper  and  various  other  things  of  like 
nature,  while  permitting  the  light  to  pass,  do  not 
permit  us  to  see  things  on  the  other  side  of  them. 
Yet  a  window  of  oiled  paper  will  give  light  enough 
to  read  by. 

206 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

It  seems,  then,  that  a  translucent  body  can  per- 
mit the  passage  of  Primary  Spheres,  in  light  trans- 
mission, only  in  a  zig-zag  course,  while  a  body  that 
is  transparent  allows  the  passage  of  Primary 
Spheres  in  continuous  columns,  everywhere  one 
P.  S.  pushing  two  others,  in  a  straight  line 
between  the  transmitting  body  and  the  re- 
ceiving body.  Undoubtedly  it  is  the  prevailing 
opinion  that  light  directly  penetrates  all  transpar- 
ent bodies,  even  solid,  transparent  bodies.  And,  it 
is  said,  that  even  in  the  most  solid  bodies  at  the 
lowest  temperature  the  atoms  are  clear  apart  from 
one  another.  And  each  atom  is  surrounded  by 
ether,  and  light  is  a  very  rapid  vibration  of  that 
ether. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  this  is  the  case.  (Hypothe- 
sis.) Then,  because  under  this  Hypothesis  the 
whole  of  all  the  ether  is  in  uninterrupted  contact 
there  is  no  solid  background  anywhere. 

And  when  a  certain  amount  of  ether  moves  in  a 
given  direction,  all  the  ether  must  move  with  it, 
or  at  least  all  the  ether  in  all  the  planes  wherein 
the  movement  originated.  And  a  ray  of  light  must, 
under  this  Hypothesis,  penetrate  all  things,  and  all 
things  alike;  there  is  no  solid  background  any- 
where. It  is  then  evident  that  this  Hypothesis 
cannot  stand  the  requirements  of  individual  reflec- 
tion or  transparency  of  bodies. 

All  force  is  Universal  force  and  every  move- 
ment is  a  Universal  Movement ;  and  yet  every  sub- 
stanch  is  an  Identity,  and  every  motion  is  an  identi- 
207 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

cal  motion.  And  this  is  a  world-old  mystery,  and 
the  solution,  "the  identical  life  of  every  living  iden- 
tity/ '  is  an  equal  mystery.  Light  cannot  and  does 
not  penetrate  a  solid  substance  as  a  direct  move- 
ment of  Primary  Spheres  in  plane  layers,  or  in 
straight  columns.  For  the  particles  of  solids  are 
interlocked  in  actual  contact  with  one  another. 
(Proposition  VI,  B.  1.)  And  the  density  of  a 
substance  has  very  little  to  do  with  its  transpar- 
ency, for  the  transparent  glass  is  undoubtedly  more 
dense  than  is  the  opaque  piece  of  cardboard. 

Again,  the  glass  actually  loses  in  transparency  by 
being  heated  to  a  high  degree,  which  undoubtedly 
enlarges  the  interstices  between  particles. 

The  pure  carbon  of  the  diamond  is  transparent, 
although  its  particles  are  a  hundred-fold  closer 
together  than  the  spongy  charcoal,  and  that  pecu- 
liar arrangement  of  particles  in  crystallization  is 
the  very  essence  of  the  transparency  of  carbon. 

There  is,  then,  in  the  transparency  of  solids,  an 
undeniable  element  of  individuality,  and  individu- 
ality must  needs  be  the  result  of  a  peculiar  arrange- 
ment of  primary  particles,  when  these  particles  are 
in  the  last  place,  all  alike  and  exactly  similar. 

Roentgens  X-rays  penetrate  a  vacuum.  They  are 
then  a  displacement  of  Spheres  of  void  matter. 
And  these  X-rays  are  propagated  or  projected 
through  solids  which  are  not  transparent.  Yet, 
they  cannot  be  more  rapid  than  hypothetical  light- 
waves. Heat  that  is  projected  through  a  rock-salt 
lense  cannot  be  a  more  rapid  vibration  than  light 
208 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

which  cannot  be  projected  through  the  rock  salt. 

Again,  in  the  production  of  colors,  both  by  re- 
flection and  through  means  of  peculiar  transpar- 
ent bodies,  there  is  an  almost  infinite  individuality. 

And,  while  the  analyzation  of  the  manifold 
changes  wrought  by  light  are  probably  too  subtle 
for  the  complete  understanding  of  any  one,  yet  it 
is  certain  that  these  changes  are  not  produced 
merely  by  a  variation  in  rapidity  of  light-waves. 
For,  in  the  transmission  of  force  from  one  body  to 
another  body,  every  intervening  body  must  under- 
go a  change.  (Proposition  XI,  B.  1.)  And  when 
we  put  a  pane  of  glass  between  us  and  the  Sun, 
that  glass  does  certainly  intervene,  even  as  the  at- 
mosphere does.  And  atmosphere  and  glass  are  both 
changed,  in  a  different  degree,  by  the  transmis- 
sion of  the  light.  But  not  in  degree  only  does  the 
change  produced  on  the  atmosphere  differ  from  the 
change  produced  in  glass,  or  in  Iceland  spar  or 
mica. 

For,  in  a  solid,  the  interstices  cannot  continue 
in  straight  lines,  and  the  change  that  a  transparent 
solid  undergoes  in  transmitted  light  is  not  a  mere 
negative  sifting  through  the  holes,  but  must  needs 
be  connected  with  the  life  process  of  the  transparent 
body.  That  the  accumulated  data  of  the  actions 
of  light  can  be  resting  on  a  wrong  basis,  seems 
almost  incredible,  and  yet  are  the  ether  waves  of 
the  dynamic  theories  an  utter  impossibility. 

Humans  are  ever  ready  to  throw  aside  logical 
conclusions  for  popular  appearance,  and  spectral 
209 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

analysis,  polarization,  color  effects  and  many  other 
observed  effects  of  light  make  up  a  great  sum  total, 
strengthening  the  impression  that  light  is  a  pri- 
mary identity,  yet  capable  of  undergoing  changes 
within  its  own  nature.  And  yet  light  coming  to  us 
through  millions  of  miles  of  void  matter  can  only 
come  as  a  mechanical  displacement  of  the  spheres 
of  void  matter.  (Proposition  XX,  B.  3.)  But  the 
changes  produced  by  that  light  are  not  only  a  re- 
sult of  such  pressure  of  displacement,  but  in  equal 
measure  these  changes  are  the  result  of  living  iden- 
tities yielding  to  that  pressure  (Proposition  III, 
B.  3.)  And  because  the  living  identities  differ  from 
one  another  in  essential  form,  as  well  as  in  outline, 
therefore  the  same  mechanical  pressure  of  light  on 
the  endless  variety  of  living  identities  produces  the 
innumerable  effects  of  light. 

And  it  is  evident  that  a  knowledge  of  the  forms 
of  atoms,  and  the  resultant  shape  of  the  combina- 
tion of  different  atoms  in  the  molecules  and  higher 
combinations,  of  glass  and  other  substances,  would 
greatly  aid  in  understanding  transparency. 

Light  that  would  penetrate  all  things  would  not 
be  light  at  all;  we  could  not  perceive  it. 

There  is  a  radical  difference  between  solids, 
liquids  and  gases,  which  is  not  a  mere  question  of 
degree  of  nearness  of  one  particle  to  another. 
(Proposition  VI,  B.  1.)  And,  in  spite  of  modern 
theories,  there  is  required  something  solid  some- 
where, some  background  for  the  action  of  force. 

The  light-waves  are  thrown  out  of  their  course 
210 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

in  passing  through  aggregations  of  matter  of  dif- 
ferent density.  Evidently,  then,  the  light  does  not 
merely  pass  through  the  holes,  but  the  intervening 
matter  undergoes  a  change  because  of  the  light. 
Then  every  identity  undergoes  a  change,  under  the 
influence  of  light,  that  is  different  from  the  change 
that  any  other  identity  undergoes,  therefore  is  light 
the  first  and  foremost  impression;  therefore,  we 
receive  the  sense  of  outline,  of  color,  size  and  tex- 
ture. 

What,  then,  is  the  difference  between  transparent 
body  and  the  body  not  transparent?  Upon  all  of 
them  alike  the  pressure  of  a  given  beam  of  light  is 
exerted.  And  the  change  produced  by  light  is  on 
the  surface  only,  of  the  reflecting  body,  and  turns 
to  heat  in  the  interior  of  the  opaque  body,  while 
the  transparent  body  transmits  the  change,  pro- 
duced on  the  surface,  to  every  subdivision  of  the 
body,  and  from  the  last  particle  again  to  an  adja- 
cent body  that  repeats  the  process  or  to  void  mat- 
ter. The  popular  conception  of  light  is,  that  the 
vibrations  producing  it  are  identical  in  frequency 
and  extent.  And  in  its  own  nature,  that  is,  in  the 
length  and  rapidity  of  the  waves,  it  is  already  di- 
vided into  the  colors  of  the  spectrum  before  it  acts 
on  any  material  body.  And  yet  light  is  not  and 
cannot  be  anything  more  than  a  mechanical  dis- 
placement of  void  matter  between  one  celestial 
body  and  another  in  space.  And  that  void  matter, 
whatever  we  may  choose  to  call  it,  does  not  possess 
the  power  to  acquire  momentum.  So  one  wave 
211 


MECHANISM    OF   NATURE 

of  ether  cannot  impart  acquired  force  to  a  suc- 
ceeding wave,  for  if  that  were  possible,  then  an 
unrestricted  movement  of  celestial  bodies  would  be 
entirely  impossible.  Then  the  transparency  of  bod- 
ies must  be  closely  related,  and  determined  by  the 
life  process  of  the  transparent  bodies.  And  that 
life  process  can  be  different  only  because  of  dif- 
ference in  the  form  of  atoms  and  their  arrange- 
ments in  higher  degrees  of  organizations. 


PROPOSITION   XXIV. 

(HYPOTHESIS.) 

Light  is  the  most  direct  displacement  of  Primary 
Spheres  in  void  matter,  transversing  even  mov- 
ing layers  in  straight  lines,  ivhile  yet  the 
movement  of  light  enters  into  every  other 
movement  of  void  matter  and  into  every  change 
of  organized  identity. 

The  Mosaic  conception  of  creation  gives  to  light 
the  first  and  foremost  place  in  the  organizing  of  the 
void  and  formless  Universe.  And  while  light  is  it- 
self a  creation,  the  result  of  the  primary  cause,  it 
is  invested  with  an  identity,  prior  to  any  organized 
form  and  any  other  manifestation  of  force. 

It  has  been  argued  that  light  cannot  be  conceived 
as  pre-existing  to  the  Suns  and  to  other  sources  of 
light  in  the  heavens,  and  yet  light  is  held  to  be  the 
result  of  some  decomposition. 

Then,  while  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  conceive 
212 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

of  light  where  there  is  no  organized  material,  it  is 
equally  impossible  to  conceive  that  a  sun  can  give 
out  light  by  decomposing  before  it  is  itself  or- 
ganized. And  an  eternal  sun  or  succession  of  suns 
is  just  as  incomprehensible  as  an  eternal  identical 
Primary  Cause. 

We  look  upon  sunlight  as  the  primary  cause  of 
earth  life.  And  everything  living  upon  the  earth  is 
looked  upon  as  directly  or  indirectly  the  result  of 
sunlight.  Therefore,  naturally,  light  is  looked  upon 
as  the  King  Force,  as  of  greater  importance  than 
other  manifestations  of  force. 

But  no  manifestation  of  Force  can  in  reality  be 
greater  than  another  manifestation  of  force.  For, 
in  the  endless  circle  of  cause  and  effect,  every  cause 
is  an  effect  and  every  effect  is  a  cause.  We  look 
upon  sunlight,  and  upon  our  artificial  light  as  the 
result  of  incandescence,  and  upon  incandescence,  as 
the  result  of  the  dismemberment  of  something  that 
light  has  built  up.  And  yet  heat,  the  cause  of  in- 
candescence, is  itself  the  result  of  a  movement  of 
void  matter  from  one  body  to  another. 

Is,  then,  light  that  which  holds  a  substance  to- 
gether in  its  own  identical  form?  Certainly  not, 
for  between  two  living  identities  in  the  manifesta- 
tion of  light,  it  is  only  a  displacement.  But  the 
displacement  caused  by  light  is  more  direct  between 
source  and  recipient  than  that  which  causes  gravity. 
For  in  light  transmission  intensity  is  increased, 
after  the  square,  by  lessening  of  distance,  and  in 
gravity  after  the  inverse  square.  And  yet  the  pres- 
213 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

sure  of  light  is  into  the  whole  universal  aggrega- 
tion of  Primary  Spheres  of  void  matter,  and  must 
produce  a  tension  on  the  whole  universal  space. 
Therein  again  is  set  forth  the  paradox  of  nature 
and  of  the  life  that  animates  nature. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  popular  theories  are  cor- 
rect. (Hypothesis.)  Then  the  whole  perceptible 
universe  is  in  a  constant  state  of  vibration.  All 
ether  is  in  direct  communication,  all  force  must 
counterbalance  itself,  even  as  the  air  balances  it- 
self on  one  side  of  us  and  on  the  other.  And  the 
occult  life  of  identities  alone  produces  an  inequal- 
ity between  them  which  produces  manifestations 
of  force,  or  as  it  is  generally  understood,  it  pro- 
duces the  several  identical  forces.  (Hypothesis.) 
Yet,  under  this  modern  theory,  this  identical  life 
is  again  but  a  product  of  universal  vibration,  and 
under  the  most  advanced  ( ? )  theories  the  whole 
material  Universe  is  a  pipe  dream,  a  mere  imagi- 
nation of  some  identity  whose  consciousness  is  of 
yesterday.  (Hypothesis.) 

But  true  science  is  sharply  divided  from  any 
occultism,  and  any  theory  that  bestows  any  occult 
inherent  power  on  radium  or  any  other  material, 
however  complex  in  its  organization,  has  no  proper 
place  in  pure  Science.  For  science  is  based  on 
reason  only,  and  reason  can  only  perceive  changes 
in  material  forms. 

And  so  light  can  be  known  only,  and  studied 
rationally  only,  as  it  produces  changes  in  material. 
Then  while  any  pressure  of  light,  from  incandes- 
214 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

cence  or  any  other  source,  is  into  the  whole  aggre- 
gation of  primary  spheres,  it  is  yet  a  direct  move- 
ment of  plane  layers  of  Primary  Spheres  between 
the  body  giving  light  and  the  body  receiving  light. 
The  light  shines;  it  will  not  directly  go  around 
any  ordinary  screen ;  it  may  be  concentrated  with  a 
lense,  or  deflected  by  a  mirror. 

And  yet  it  is  a  steady  displacement  and  not  a 
succession  of  rebounding  waves  that  transfer  an 
occult  power,  a  power  that  can  ever  be  separate,  for 
the  least  fraction  of  time,  from  material. 

And  these  two  propositions,  equally  true,  that 
the  pressure  of  light  is  into  the  aggregation  of  the 
whole,  and  that  the  movement  of  light  is  in  direct 
lines  between  the  body  that  gives  out  light  and  the 
body  that  receives  light,  these  problems  are  pre- 
sented in  the  hydraulic  jack,  in  the  lever  screw  and 
pulley  and  in  all  the  mechanics  of  Nature. 

Because  there  is  little,  if  any,  evidence  that  the 
sun  or  any  other  body  the  source  of  light,  suffers 
any  decrease  in  mass  by  giving  out  light,  it  is  prob- 
ably seldom  that  any  total  decomposition  takes 
place  in  the  phenomena  of  light.  But  rather, 
light  is  the  result  of  a  great  hastening  of  the  dis- 
memberment and  reorganization  of  Atoms  on  the 
surface  of  bodies  giving  out  light.  Light  is 
intimately  associated  with  heat  and  electricity;  it  is 
comparatively  easy  to  convert  any  one  of  the  three 
into  both  others,  and  yet  there  is  a  wide  difference. 

But  all  three,  and  every  other  force,  are  a  change 
in  material,  and  based  upon  that  which  produces 
215 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

the  difference  between  tangible  and  intangible  ma- 
terial. The  acceleration  of  the  outlying  atoms  in 
their  life  process  must  be  far  more  intense  than  it 
is  in  heat  or  electricity,  and  when  heat  and  elec- 
tricity are  intense  enough  they  will  always  produce 
light.  And  in  its  intensity  light  will  directly  cause 
a  movement  in  Primary  Spheres  that  intervene  be- 
tween organized  bodies;  it  will  not  require  the 
presence  of  atoms  to  conduct  it  along.  Light  is 
then  more  particularly  a  movement  of  void  matter. 
But  whenever  that  movement  encounters  organ- 
ized identities  it  must  then  enter  into  the  life 
process  of  that  identity,  and  modify  and  be  modi- 
fied by  that  process.  The  light  cannot  as  light  pass 
along  the  optic  nerve,  neither  can  it  penetrate 
transparent  bodies  as  an  uninterrupted  displace- 
ment of  P.  S.  in  plane  layers.  From  this  encounter 
with  organized  bodies  must  spring  the  wherefore  of 
spectral  analysis  and  all  the  different  effects  of 
light. 

PROPOSITION   XXV. 

There  is  one  universal  material.  There  is  one  uni- 
versal force,  the  displacement  of  material 
parts.  There  is  One  Identical,  Primary,  In- 
comprehensible and  Everpresent  Cause,  of  all 
Identity,  of  material  Form  or  manifested 
Force. 

There  is  something  that  is  real,  that  is  not  the 
creation  of  our  imagination.    Conscious  reason  per- 
ceives space-filling  material  by  perceiving  innum- 
216 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

erable  changes  in  material.  And  these  changes  are 
not  haphazard,  but  in  ordered  sequence,  one  change 
is  the  inevitable  result  of  a  former  change;  they 
are  perceptible  to  every  sane  mind,  minds  and  im- 
aginations that  are  widely  different  in  many  re- 
spects. The  very  sanity  of  the  human  mind  de- 
mands even  a  plain  recognition  of  physical  facts. 

Then,  while  every  sane  mind  does  perceive  the 
reality  of  ponderable,  tangible  matter,  it  has  also 
the  power  of  invading  the  borderland  of  abstract 
thought.  And  this  power  of  thinking  of  our 
thoughts,  as  Swedenborg  has  it,  is  plainly  an  attri- 
bute of  conscious  humanity. 

Yet  is  the  most  abstract  thought  ever  based  upon 
Material.  The  sublimest  music  is  lost  on  the  dulled 
ear.  The  man  deprived  of  sight  cannot  drink  in 
the  glory  of  form  and  color. 

And  if  he  was  always  blind,  and  now  gain  the 
power  of  vision,  though  his  mind  was  sane  always, 
he  finds  that  his  most  intense  imagining  could  not 
approach  a  visible  reality. 

An  immortal  Milton  or  Dante,  singing  of  Identi- 
ties and  manifestations  outside  and  beyond  a  ma- 
terial Universe,  they  do  not  take  us  and  our  imagi- 
nations out  of  a  material  Universe,  but  they  reduce 
a  spiritual  beyond  to  material.  It  may  be  the  height 
of  high  art,  and  perhaps  that  is  the  reason  why 
common  mortals  can't  read  Dante  and  Milton,  but 
what  is  that  Beatrice  that  walks  and  talks  ?  What 
is  that  Lucifer  that  fights  and  falls  for  three  days  ? 
Like  a  ton  of  coal,  he  is  amenable  to  laws  of  time 
217 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

and  distance.  All  the  wisdom  of  the  Chaldeans, 
all  the  abstract  thoughts  of  countless  millions,  are 
utterly  lost  to  us  except  where  they  have  been  pre- 
served in  material  records.  In  stone  and  iron,  in 
the  written  page,  in  records  impressed  on  material 
brains,  reproduced  from  one  brain  to  another  by 
material  impression,  this  is  all  we  have  of  all  the 
thoughts  and  emotions  that  preceded  our  own  gen- 
eration. Is  not  an  Edison  Amberole  Record  a 
greater  wonder  than  a  thousand  spooks  materiali- 
zations, yet  it  is  frankly  material,  while  yet  the 
most  abstract  thought  may  be  preserved  and  trans- 
ferred to  generations  yet  unborn. 

The  idolatry  of  Force  inherence  will  be  ever  co- 
existing with  human  ignorance.  Where  shall  we 
worship,  in  Samaria  or  in  Jerusalem? 

Humans  are  ever  more  ready  to  trust  their  su- 
perficial impressions  than  their  abstract  logic.  It 
is  easier  to  observe  a  thousand  occult  powers  in 
the  image  of  stone  than  to  prove  the  life  process  of 
that  stone. 

Das  Ding  an  sick!  How  powerful  the  appeal. 
It  seems  so  natural,  so  lazily  convincing,  this  inher- 
ent identity  of  stick  and  stone  and  platonic  human. 
And  yet  science  must  give  up  all  force-inherence 
theories  or  be  hampered  and  swallowed  up  by  oc- 
cultism. 

Scientists  of  our  day  generally  claim  to  scorn  all 
occultism,  while  yet  they  hold  heat  to  be  latent  in 
coal  and  muscular  strength  in  the  Athlete. 

The  very  essence  of  dynamic  theories  is  the  trans- 
218 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

ferrence  of  force  from  one  wave  to  another  without 
transferrence  of  material.  Let  it  be  called  by  any 
name  whatever,  it  is  yet  an  occult  force,  and  that 
is  the  reason  why  three-fourths  of  the  literature 
of  occultism  is  vibration.  In  acquired  momentum 
there  is  held  to  have  been  created  an  occult  pro- 
pensity to  move,  in  a  straight  line  preferably,  but 
else  in  any  other  line  (demonstration,  the  pendu- 
lum), and  any  direct  and  constant  relation  with 
displacement  in  universal  space  is  utterly  ignored. 
And  the  doctrine  of  universal  evolution,  so  gener- 
ally accepted  by  scientists,  is  in  its  very  essence 
occult  and  must  lead  to  occultism.  For  the  first 
ion  or  particle  of  chaotic  matter,  self  created,  or  by 
itself  ever  existing  as  a  particle  of  void  or  chaotic 
matter,  evolution  gives  to  this  particle  an  occult 
longing  for  organization.  The  association  of  parti- 
cles is  held  to  be  neither  an  accident  nor  the  result 
of  an  influence  outside  of  chaotic  matter,  but  the 
result  of  an  inherent  longing  for  perfection, 
strengthened  by  every  environment  of  further  or- 
ganization, until  longing  and  striving  awoke  in  the 
conscious  I.  Then  logically  this  conscious  I  is 
greater  than  all  material,  and  all  environments. 
In  its  own  sovereign  right  it  has  dominion  over 
force  and  matter.  It  is  not  by  mere  chance  that 
every  fantastic  creed  should  so  eagerly  seize  upon 
the  philosophy  of  evolution.  For,  in  the  progress 
of  evolution,  the  physical,  mechanical  necessity  is 
not  the  moving  factor,  but  an  incidental  result,  and 
back  of  every  cataclysm  in  stellar  space,  back  of 
219 


MECHANISM    OF    NATURE 

every  slow  growth  of  development  through  changes 
in  environment,  there  is,  in  the  accepted  theories 
of  evolution,  an  inherent  power  of  attraction,  of 
occult  selection,  in  the  last  instance,  ever  the  prod- 
uct of  an  occult  desire.  And  growth,  from  an  in- 
finite nothing  at  all,  to  an  all-embracing  infinite 
perfection,  this  is  the  essence  of  evolution.  This 
also  is  the  essence  of  the  New  Thought,  as  old  as 
the  idolatry  of  the  evolution  Cave  dweller. 

In  opposition  to  this  idolatry  of  occult  force- 
inherence  there  has  been,  from  time  immemorial, 
a  philosophy  of  Monoism,  perhaps  best  expressed 
in  the  lofty  Agnosticism  of  Moses:  "I  Am  That 
I  Am." 

The  eternal  beginning,  the  endless  end,  this  is 
beyond  all  human  reason.  Science  has  nothing  to 
do  with  this.  Pure  science  is  the  knowledge  of  the 
changes  wrought  in  matter  by  force.  And  Art  is 
the  recording  of  abstract  thought  in  material.  Any 
true  religion  is  a  conscious  relation  of  a  conscious 
finite  Identity  to  an  Infinite  Consciousness. 

Certainly  force  is  infinite  and  occult;  it  is  ever 
beyond  human  reason  until  human  reason  itself  be 
changed. 

But  any  manifestation  of  the  one  infinite  force 
is  just  as  finite  as  any  material.  And  the  identity 
of  any  force  manifestation  does  not  consist  in,  or 
result  from,  any  identity  inherent  in  the  manifesta- 
tion, but  only  through  material,  organized  forms 
can  a  universal  displacement  of  void  matter  be 
varied  into  identical  manifestations  of  force. 
220 


IDENTICAL    CHANGES 

We  can  not  directly  perceive  such  a  universal  dis- 
placement of  void  matter.  We  cannot  comprehend 
its  origin.  We  can  scarcely  determine  its  direction 
between  nearby  bodies  in  stellar  space. 

The  alternate  hypothesis  concerning  the  manner 
of  the  flow  of  universal  material  may  be  decidedly 
wrong.  But  the  displacement  of  void  matter  as  the 
origin  of  every  change  in  ponderable  material,  this 
will  not  be  found  wrong  in  the  years  to  come. 

And  the  identity  of  Forms,  material  and  ever- 
changing,  yet  indestructible  through  constant  re- 
production, is  a  creation  by  an  Infinite  Cause, 
whether  they  were  created  identical  forms,  or  a 
mechanical  result  of  the  addition  of  motion  to  a 
Universe. 

And  that  Identity  of  Form,  every  identical  Pri- 
mary Sphere  in  its  identical  place,  may  not  this  be 
renewed  after  total  destruction  by  the  Infinite 
Power  that  first  assembled  the  first  similar  Form? 

And  may  not  then  the  life  of  the  Identity  be  no 
more  the  result  of  change,  but  change  itself  be  no 
more ! 


THE  END  OF  THE  THIRD  BOOK. 


Mechanism  ^Nature 

PRICE    ONE   DOLLAR 

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HENRY     C.     EHLERS 

CLEARBROOK,         WASH. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY, 
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REC'D  LD 

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20m-l,'22 


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**! 


